| Description | Liberal-Progressive was a label used by a number of candidates in Canadian elections between 1926 and 1953. In federal and Ontario politics, there was no formal Liberal-Progressive party - it was an alliance between two separate parties. In Manitoba, a party did exist with this name.
With the Progressive Party of Canada's 1921 electoral breakthrough, Canadian federal politics operated under a "three party system" for the first time. The Liberal Party of Canada under William Lyon Mackenzie King tried to deal with this situation by co-opting the Progressives, offering to form a coalition with them. The Progressive Party itself refused. But by 1926, the party had split and some Progressives decided to support the Liberals, running as Liberal Progressive or Liberal-Labour-Progressive candidates or similar variations. This phenomenon occurred particularly in the 1925 election and the 1926 election. A number of Liberal Progressive Members of Parliament became full fledged Liberals in the 1930s.
In the 1925 election, only one candidate ran under the Liberal Progressive banner. He was unsuccessful.
In the 1926 election, a total of 11 candidates ran as Liberal Progressive: eight in Manitoba (the entire Progressive contingent who had decided to nominate joint candidates with the Liberals), all of whom were elected, and three unsuccessful candidates in Ontario. A ninth Manitoba Liberal-Progressive, Robert Forke who was the group's leader, was acclaimed in a by-election later in the year and was appointed to the Cabinet. These candidates were not opposed by the Liberal Party in the election and ran with the understanding that they would sit with and support the Liberals in the Parliament and attend Liberal caucus meetings. Mackenzie King's Liberals alone did not have a majority of seats in the House of Commons after the 1926 election, but were able to form a minority government (that was for all intents and purposes a majority government) with the support of the Liberal-Progressives in the house. This government lasted for four years. The Liberal-Progressives also had their own caucus meetings (in addition to attending Liberal meetings) and developed their own politics on certain issues, particularly in relation to agriculture. For example, they were critical of the 1927 federal budget for not reducing tariffs, a long time Progressive demand.
In the 1930 election, eight Liberal Progressives ran in Manitoba, but only two were elected. One defeated candidate lost to a candidate running as a Liberal.
In the 1935 election, five Liberal Progressives ran in Manitoba, four of whom were elected. One of these was victorious over a Liberal candidate, while the defeated Liberal Progressive was defeated by a Liberal.
In the 1940 election, two Liberal Progressives ran in Manitoba, of whom one was elected. Two Liberal Progressives ran in Ontario. Both of these were elected.
Walter Gilbert Weir was the longest lasting Liberal Progressive MP, winning his first election in the riding of Macdonald in Manitoba in 1930. He was re-elected as a Liberal Progressive in 1935 and 1940. In 1945, 1949 and 1953, he was elected as a Liberal Progressive for the riding of Portage-Neepawa, and was the sole candidate to run as under the Liberal Progressive label in those elections. He was defeated in the 1957 election, the first in which he ran as a Liberal. [Link] |
