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19 unusual facts about Conservative Party of Canada


André Caillé

Caillé also considered the notion of being a candidate for the Conservative Party of Canada in the last national election as well, but did not.

Canadian federal election results in Central Quebec

In fact, before 2011, the BQ won at least seven of its nine seats in each of the preceding four elections, losing Saint-Maurice in 1997 and 2000 and Portneuf in 2000, which both went Liberal, winning all ridings in 2004, and in 2006 and 2008 losing only Lotbinière—Chutes-de-la-Chaudière to the Conservatives and Portneuf-Jacques-Cartier to independent candidate André Arthur.

Canadian federal election results in Eastern Montreal

Prior to the rise of the Bloc, the region was swept up in the Brian Mulroney tide, electing Quebec nationalists under the Progressive Conservative banner.

The Conservative Party of Canada has never approached this level of support, and eastern Montreal is currently the weakest region in Canada for the Tories.

Canadian federal election results in Montérégie

Conservative support picked up significantly in the rural areas but remains very low in the suburban areas.

The former have been a battleground between the Liberals and the Bloc Québécois because of the collapse of the Progressive Conservative Party in 1993.

Canadian federal election results in Quebec City

In the 2000 election, the Liberals were able to gain some ground, winning two seats, but the Bloc regained those seats in the 2004 election before losing all but one in 2006 to the Conservatives.

Canadian federal election results in the Côte-Nord and Saguenay

This is true except for the Chicoutimi area which has voted federalist with André Harvey running as a Progressive Conservative and winning in 1997, and running as a Liberal and winning in 2000.

The Bloc swept the region in 2004, but the Conservatives picked up a seat here in 2006 and weakened the Bloc's grip on the remaining seats as Liberal support collapsed.

Canadian federal election results in the Eastern Townships

André Bachand remained with the PCs in 2000 and was re-elected, but declined to join the newly merged Conservatives and retired from politics in 2004.

By 1997, he was PC leader and local candidates running on his coattails did well, resulting in a split between the Progressive Conservatives (four seats) the Bloc Québécois (three seats) and the Liberals (two seats).

Canadian federal election results in the Laurentides, Outaouais and Northern Quebec

In 2006, however, everything changed as Liberal support melted here; the party lost two of their three Outaouais seats – one to the Bloc and one to the Conservatives.

Linda Lapointe

She campaigned on behalf of local Conservative candidate Claude Carignan during the federal election of 2008.

Pierre Gingras

He campaigned on behalf of local Conservative candidate Claude Carignan during the federal election of 2008.

Richard Décarie

Richard Décarie is a Strategy Communication Consultant who was Deputy Chief of Staff of the Leader of the Official Opposition Conservative Party of Canada, the Right Honourable Stephen Harper, at the Canadian House of Commons.

Sébastien Proulx

Proulx campaigned on behalf of local Conservative candidate Claude Durand during the federal election of 2008.

Stranger to the House

The position was created at the federal level following the 2004 federal election when a Winnipeg district elected a quadriplegic candidate, Conservative Steven Fletcher, who requires the constant presence of an aide to provide personal care and assist in his duties.

Voter suppression

In litigation brought by The Council of Canadians, a federal court found that such fraud had occurred and had probably been perpetrated by someone with access to the Conservative Party's voter database, including its information about voter preferences.

Western alienation in Canada

Later decisions of the minority Conservative government of Stephen Harper – on issues such as income trusts and the recognition of the Québécois as a "nation within a united Canada" – caused some dissent amongst a segment of Western Canadians who traditionally supported the Tories.


42nd Canadian federal election

Incumbent parties retain all four ridings: Conservative candidates Larry Maguire and Ted Falk are elected in Brandon—Souris and Provencher respectively, while Liberal candidates Emmanuel Dubourg and Chrystia Freeland are elected in Bourassa and Toronto Centre respectively.

Alex Atamanenko

He contested the same riding in the federal election of 2004, but was narrowly defeated by Conservative Jim Gouk.

Barb Fisher

In the 2004 federal election, Fisher ran in Huron—Bruce as a candidate of the Conservative Party, but lost to Liberal Paul Steckle by almost 10,000 votes.

Canadian Alliance

On October 15, 2003, the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party (under its new leader Peter MacKay) announced that they would merge to form a new party, called the Conservative Party of Canada.

Canadian federal election results in Central Ontario

In 2006, Liberal support in this region melted; the only non-Conservative elected in this region was Belinda Stronach, a former Conservative who crossed the floor in 2005.

Charles McVety

In November 2006, former Conservative Garth Turner claimed that McVety had once boasted to him of his influence with Prime Minister Stephen Harper, saying "I can pick up the phone and call Harper and I can get him in two minutes." McVety flatly denied saying this, after which Turner firmly reiterated his claim.

During the 2006 election, McVety registered several domains which bore the names of Liberal candidates, such as "josephvolpe.com" (a reference to Joe Volpe), and published pro-Conservative material there.

Christian Heritage Party of Canada candidates, 2004 Canadian federal election

David J. Reimer received 1,458 votes (4.19%), finishing fourth against Conservative candidate Brian Pallister.

Contempt of Parliament

On March 9, 2011, Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons Peter Milliken made two Contempt of Parliament rulings: The first found that a Conservative Party cabinet minister, Bev Oda, could possibly be in contempt of Parliament.

Dan Albas

In March 2011, after Stockwell Day, the MP for Okanagan—Coquihalla for the last 11 years, unexpectedly announced his retirement, a nomination election was held to seek his replacement as the Conservative Party nominee.

Eric Berntson

Berntson also appeared on the 1991 tape that showed current Conservative MP Tom Lukiwski making homophobic slurs and current Saskatchewan premier Brad Wall mocking Roy Romanow in a Ukrainian accent which was revealed to the public on March 31, 2008.

Fred Eisenberger

In the 2004 federal election, Eisenberger ran for the Conservative Party in Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, finishing third behind Liberal Tony Valeri and New Democrat Tony DePaulo.

Gary Fox

He sought the federal Conservative Party of Canada nomination in Prince Edward—Hastings for the 2004 federal election, but lost to Daryl Kramp.

Jasbir Singh Cheema

In the 2004 federal election, he ran for and won the Conservative Party of Canada nomination against Chuck Cadman, the sitting Member of Parliament for the riding of Surrey North.

Jim Maloway

He was then elected to the Canadian House of Commons for the Winnipeg division of Elmwood—Transcona in the 2008 federal election as a member of the New Democratic Party, but was defeated by Conservative candidate Lawrence Toet in the 2011 federal election.

Kenzie MacNeil

MacNeil ran as a Conservative Party of Canada in Cape Breton—Canso in the 2004 and 2006 federal elections, coming third and second respectively behind Liberal incumbent Rodger Cuzner.

Legal status of animals in Canada

When the Conservative Party came to power in 2006, MP Mark Holland tabled a private member’s bill that was virtually identical to Bill C-50, the most recent incarnation of C-17.

Maritime Union

Most recently, it was reintroduced in November 2012 by Stephen Greene, John D. Wallace and Mike Duffy, three Conservative Senators from the region.

Nation Alliance Party

He came in fifth place, with 397 votes (0.93%), losing to the Conservative Party's Alice Wong.

Negative campaigning

Similar backlash happened to the Liberal Party in the 2006 federal election for running an attack ad that suggested that Conservative leader Stephen Harper would use Canadian soldiers to patrol Canadian cities, and impose some kind of martial law.

Nettie Wiebe

She was once again the NDP candidate in Saskatoon—Rosetown—Biggar in the 2008 federal election, but Conservative candidate Kelly Block defeated her by just 262 votes (0.98%), Wiebe's narrowest loss to date.

However, she did run, unsuccessfully, as the federal New Democratic Party candidate in the 2004 federal election in the riding of Saskatoon—Humboldt, against Conservative candidate Brad Trost, Liberal candidate Patrick Wolfe, and incumbent independent Jim Pankiw.

Northwestern Ontario

At the federal level, Northwestern Ontario is represented by Conservative Greg Rickford in the Kenora District, New Democrat John Rafferty and Independent Bruce Hyer in Thunder Bay—Rainy River and Thunder Bay—Superior North respectively.

Paul Bonwick

In the subsequent 2004 general election, Bonwick, having benefitted in the past by vote-splitting between the Progressive Conservatives and the Reform Party, fell victim to the new Conservative Party of Canada, losing his seat to Conservative candidate Helena Guergis by 100 votes.

Paul Macklin

The CA and PC parties merged in late 2003, and Macklin faced a much more difficult challenge in that year's federal election, defeating Conservative Doug Galt by only 313 votes.

Plympton–Wyoming

The town's first mayor was Patricia Davidson, who was elected to the Canadian House of Commons in the 2006 federal election as the Conservative Member of Parliament for Sarnia—Lambton.

Port Hope Conference

The Port Hope Conference was a meeting of the Conservative Party of Canada at Port Hope, Canada in 1942 to develop a new party platform.

Quebec Liberal Party candidates, 2007 Quebec provincial election

He is not to be confused with the Montreal businessperson Daniel Fournier, who has run for the Canadian House of Commons as a Conservative candidate.

Ray Hunter

In June 2011, former Conservative Member of Parliament Rex Barnes challenged him for the PC nomination but Hunter easily defeated him and was re-elected in the October election.

Rex Crawford

In 2004, several years after he left Parliament, he supported Conservative party candidate Dave Van Kesteren in the Chatham-Kent—Essex riding during the 2004 federal election.

Rob Clarke

He was the Conservative Party of Canada's candidate in Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River for the March 17, 2008 federal by-election in which he defeated Liberal candidate Joan Beatty.

Rose-Marie Ur

Ur faced a difficult re-election in the federal election of 2004, defeating Bev Shipley of the newly formed Conservative Party of Canada by only 164 votes.

Tom Lukiwski

His predecessor, Larry Spencer, was denied the opportunity to run as a Conservative, despite having served as a member of the Canadian Alliance, due to inflammatory comments he made regarding homosexuality.

William H. Spinks

He campaigned for the Canadian House of Commons in the 1935 federal election as a candidate of the Conservative Party of Canada, but lost to Liberal-Progressive candidate William Gilbert Weir.