Lester B. Pearson 1963-1970 (Liberal)
1963 Def: OTL
1965 Def: OTL
1967 Def: Tommy Douglas (NDP) John Diefenbaker (Progressive Conservative) R.N Thompson (Social Credit) Réal Caouette (Ralliement Crediste)
Paul Hellyer 1970-1974 (Liberal)
1971 Def: Tommy Douglas (NDP) Dufferin Robin (Progressive Conservative) Réal Caouette (Social Credit)
1973 Def: John Paul Harney (NDP) Paul Gargladi (Social Credit) Flora MacDonald (Progressive Conservative)
Claude Wagner 1974-1978 (Liberal)
1975 Def: John Paul Harney (NDP) Paul Gargladi (Social Credit) Jack Horner (Progressive Conservative)
John Paul Harney 1978-1982 (NDP)
1978 Def: Claude Wagner (Liberal) Paul Gargladi (Social Conservative)
Francis Fox 1982-1990 (Liberal)
1982 Def: John Paul Harney (NDP) Roch La Salle (Social Conservative)
1986 Def: Edward Schreyer (NDP) Roch La Salle (Social Conservative)
1989 Def: Edward Schreyer (NDP) Preston Manning (Social Conservative)
Bill Vander Zalm 1990-1993 (Liberal)
Allan Blakeney 1993- 1998 (NDP)
1993 Def: Preston Manning (Social Conservative) Bill Vander Zalm (Liberal)
1996 Def: Preston Manning (Social Conservative) Jean Chretien (Liberal)
Monique Begin 1998-2002 (NDP)
1999 Def: Chuck Strahl (Social Conservative) Frank Stronach (Liberal)
Chuck Strahl 2002-2004 (Social Conservative) ✞
2003 Def: Monique Begin (NDP) Frank Stronach (Liberal)
Larry Shaben 2004-2005 (Social Conservative)
Nancy Greene Raine 2005-2006 (Social Conservative)
Tony Clement 2006-2007 (Social Conservative)
Howard Moscoe 2007-2014 (NDP)
2007 Def: Lawrence Cannon (Liberal) Tony Clement (Social Conservative)
2011 Def: Lawrence Cannon (Liberal) Peter Van Loan (Social Conservative)
Jennifier Granholm 2014-2015 (NDP)
Naheed Nenshi 2015- (Liberal)
2015 Def: Jennifier Granholm (NDP) Jim Prentice (Social Conservative)
2016 Def: Judy Wasylycia-Leis (NDP) Jim Prentice (Social Conservative)
2020 Def: Judy Wasylycia-Leis (NDP) Rafael Cruz (Social Conservative)
2023 Def: Megan Leslie (NDP) Rafael Cruz (Social Conservative)
Pearson calls an election in 1967, defeating Diefenbaker and the PCs in a landslide, pushing the NDP to second. The NDP, getting the breakthrough they wanted manages to hold in 1971, with the charismatic campaigner John Paul Harney making gains in Quebec. The PCs proceed to cannibalize themselves after Robin fails to reclaim the PC's former glory. In 1970, Pearson retires, and Paul Hellyer is elected as the new Liberal leader, and Prime Minister. Hellyer proceeds to screw up the response to the First October Crisis, which sees President McCarthy assassinated by an FLQ bomb (that was meant for Premier Claude Wanger). Hellyer responds by sending in the military, which while at first popular ends up ending in disaster when they raid Francis Simard's home. Instead of finding him, they find a bomb, which explodes and kills seventeen Canadian soldiers. Combined with Hellyer's eccentric personality he’s challenged by Quebec Premier Claude Wagner, who easily defeats Hellyer in 1974. His term sees him clash with just about everyone, from labor unions to Quebec nationalists, to "radicals." While his tough on crime and radicalism was initially popular, handing him a comfortable majority in 1975, much like his southern counterpart Ronald Reagan this quickly changed. A series of corruption scandals and the FLQ still continuing attacks until the early 80s dragged Wagner's poll numbers down. Combined with discontent over the economy (due to the use of tactical weapons in the Yom Kippur War and OPEC embargo) John Paul Harney became Prime Minister, even managing to supplant the Liberals in Quebec.
Unfortunately, Harney only wins a plurality, having to compromise with the Liberals who view his win as a fluke. Harney lasts for four years, but a lack of an economic recovery and legislative gridlock allows Fox to narrowly defeat Harney and Social Conservative Roch La Salle. Fox's term is easily the most influential since Pearsons, bringing in the "return to liberalism" that dominated most of the West. Whether it was President Tonie Nathan in the US, Bernhard Vogel in West Germany, or Moshe Dayan in Israel, the center-right was on the rise. Fox's economic policy could best be summed up as a middle-of-the-road approach. Privatizing what was needed and keeping popular government welfare programs. Furthermore, Fox sought a free trade agreement with President Nathan which was passed in 1988. After he passed his signature achievement, he focused on reforming Canada's relationship with Quebec, passing the Lake Manouane Accords. Fox would successfully pass the Lake Manouane Accords. His success would make Fox an international celebrity, allowing him to be elected as UN Secretary General in 1990, just in time to deal with the aftermath of the deadliest conflict in human history.
His successor was Minister of Finance Bill Vander Zalm, who defeated the left-wing Minister of Justice Pierre Laporte and fellow centrist, Minister of Labor Donald S. MacDonald (who endorsed him in the third round). His time as Prime Minister sees the beginning of the reaction to the "return to liberalism" as welfare cuts drastically effect working class communities and Zalm was sat with the blame. Even worse for Zalm was his eccentricates which angered the public, Quebec, west, and his own Party. Of course, what really destroyed was Zalm’s clashes with the left of the Liberals, which led to an exit of several left-wingers from the party due to Zalm’s welfare cuts and social conservatism, with the NDP winning in a landslide under Allan Blakeney, who drives a middle ground between the left-wing Peter Kormos and the more centrist Edward Schreyer.
Blakeney's tenure is looked back on positively by most Canadians. He successfully dealt with the nuisance of western and Quebec nationalism, with President Roy Innis pulling out of CAFTZ, thus preventing Blakeney from fighting a hyper-partisan battle against the SoCons and the Liberals. He reversed the austerity of Fox and Zalm all while preventing a split between the right of the NDP, led by Nelson Riis and the left, led by James Laxer. He would also lead the world in opposing the Gandhi dictatorship in India and oversaw the collapse of the Soviet Union. In 1998 he resigned, giving the job to Monquie Begin, his Minister of Finance who would invest in technological advancements and dealt with the Second October Crisis, caused by the Rassemblement pour I'independance (RPI), who begun a terrorist campaign after the NDP refused to approve a proposed independence referendum. The RPI's reign of terror began with the assassination of Quebec Premier Benoît Bouchard, who was shot by a member of the RPI. The next three months would see dozens of bombings and political tensions flaring in Ottawa, with the Liberals and Social Conservatives calling for martial law. Begin, attempted to resolve the crisis without the military. However, her reputation as weak on terrorism allows Chuck Strahl of the Social Conservatives to finally break the Liberal-NDP dominance.
Strahl's term is chaotic, with Strahl being diagnosed with stage III lung cancer that gradually worsens throughout the crisis. Strahl keeps the illness a secret from the public, causing the public to question where the Prime Minister was during such a crucial point in Canadian history. They got their answer when Strahl was hospitalized overnight. The next day, Strahl was pronounced dead. Initially, Strahl's death became a rallying point for the Canadian people, with Strahl becoming a hero for putting the nation before himself, working until his last breath to dismantle the RPI. This feeling was vindicated when the RPI ring leaders were arrested by the Quebec City Police on October 6th, 2004, a month after Strahl's death. Soon after, Minister of Education Nancy Greene Raine was elected the leader of the Social Conservatives over Minister of Transportation Tony Clement and Premier of British Columbia Kim Campbell.
Greene's term, much like Wagner and Hellyer's was a mess. She invoked the War Measures Act to root out the RPI, a decision that caused nationalist rioting in Quebec City and Montreal. Furthermore, it was revealed that Raine and several other members of the cabinet, including Minister of Foreign Affairs Brian Pallister and Minister of Finance Stanisław Tymiński covered up Strahl's lung cancer and pressured him to not resign, believing his resignation would only embolden the RPI and worsen the situation in Canada. Almost immediately, the NDP and Liberals called for Raine to resign, who refused initially, claiming she was not involved in the scandal. Of course, that was later proven to be a lie and Raine was forced out of office, being replaced by Minister of Transportation Tony Clement. Clement attempted to fix the public's view of the Social Conservatives as incompetent, chaotic, and careless. Of course, his landslide loss proved that attempt was futile, losing his own seat to the Liberal candidate.
His successor was Ontario Premier Howard Moscoe, whose detractors compare him to Paul Hellyer and whose supporters compare him to Roy Innis in style. Moscoe was very aggressive in his campaign style, running a populist campaign that called for universal childcare, protecting the right to bargain, lifting martial law on Quebec, and crushing the RPI. Moscoe, despite facing a strong challenge from Lawrence Cannon succeeded in winning a majority, sweeping Quebec with the help of Premier Gilles Duceppe. The Liberals however, made serious gains in the west and Ontario. Still, the memory of Prime Minister Zalm and the NDP's proven track record of moderate socialism prevented a plurality, which in the end was a good thing as it would've meant a coalition with the Social Conservatives.
Moscoe's term is viewed generally very positively. The violence in Quebec subsided and in former Prime Minister Begin was chosen to be the UN General Secretary. Furthermore, the 2010 Winter Olympics were a great success, with Calgary's infrastructure being developed and a flourishing skiing industry was built. Moscoe would further increase his popularity by passing universal childcare and prevented a strike by the CUPW in 2011. Thus, it came as no surprise that Moscoe won a second majority in 2011. In 2014, Moscoe would announce his retirement, which saw Jennifer Granholm, the Minister of Foreign Affairs defeat Minister of Health Moe Sihota and Minister of Labor Brian Topp.
Granholm's ascension to the highest office in Canada was long awaited. She had first gotten into politics during the Harney government, being involved in the anti-apartheid movement and supporting Harney's pro-labor and pro-welfare policies. In 1987 she ran to be an MLA in British Columbia, flipping the seat for Vancouver-Little Mountain. In 1993 during the Colin Gabelmann government, she was appointed as Minister of Health, focusing on expanding welfare and reversing the previous cuts to welfare. In 1999 she was elected as an MP and swiftly rose through the ranks as supporter of the establishment of a Palestinian state, universal childcare, guaranteeing the right to food and shelter, and international cooperation. Come 2014 she went in as the favorite to become Prime Minister and proved the pundits correct, being elected with 57% of the vote on the first ballot. Her term however was less interesting than her rise to power as soon after her election, the economy was hit by a massive recession, with the African Lion economies experiencing an economic crisis that engulfed the west. Soon enough, Canada was in a recession as the stock market fell 2,000 points. It was no surprise that she lost to Naheed Nenshi, whose charisma combined with discontent with the economy allowed him to win a majority.
Nenshi's tenure has been certainly eventful. For starters he oversaw the end of the Long Recession in 2018, using a mixture of austerity and trade policies to decrease Canada deficit, all while protecting universal childcare and advocating for Sapphic, Homosexual, Intersex, and Pansexual (SHIP+) rights. However, he's been the target of numerous dog whistles, primarily from Union Nationale leader and Quebec Premier Maxime Bernier and Manitoba Premier Candice Bergen, who've relentlessly attacked Nenshi's policies as "socialism with a new face." Both have accused Nenshi of infringing on religious liberty and have criticized his attempts to increase the power of the federal government. However, federally the Social Conservatives have suffered, with Rafeal Cruz of Alberta failing to impress voters and being forced out of office in 2023. Nenshi has been successful in also curbing urban sprawl in Canada, subsidizing urban projects that have given jobs to thousands of Canadians and have improved Canada's cities and economy. Furthermore, businesses have boomed in Canada, increasing tax revenue and which Nenshi has invested in pipelines and indigenous communities.
As Nenshi enters his eighth year in office, he remains popular. But he's still failed to bring his promised free trade agreement with America, with President Mahlon Mitchell stalling negotiations with Canada, which had begun under former President Niki Tsongas. Furthermore, the NDP has criticized his austerity and his inaction on recognizing food and shelter as a human right. Though Nenshi has had no thought of stepping down, the media continues to believe his days are numbered.
If so? Who replaces him? Will it be Minister of Justice Richard Wagner? Or Minister of Finance Belinda Stronach? Or maybe even the rumored Darkhorse candidates of billionaire Kevin O'Leary or Minister of Healthcare Mélaine Joly. If not a Liberal, then maybe Maxime Bernier? Who has announced he was running to be the leader of the Social Conservatives or maybe Megan Lesile of the NDP? Who seems to be at war with those in her own party who can't stop making racist dog whistles about Nenshi’s chances in rural provinces. While many love the idea of Nenshi's days being numbered, his popularity is often underestimated. With polls showing an NDP minority that turned into a Liberal majority. Will he defy the odds again in 2027? Or will he fall just like Wagner and Hellyer? Or step down like Pearson with a positive legacy to live on. Only time will tell.
