Appendix 7: Leaders of the Opposition in the House of Commons Since 1873

The Member who is the leader of the largest party sitting in opposition to the Government in the House of Commons becomes the “Leader of Her Majesty’s Opposition”. Provisions governing the position are defined in the Parliament of Canada Act, in the Standing Orders of the House of Commons and in various practices of the House. To become the Leader of the Opposition, a person must hold a seat in the House of Commons.

Name	Party	Period	Parliament
1. Alexander Mackenzie	Liberal	1873¹	1st–2nd Session, 2nd Parliament
2. Sir John A. Macdonald	Liberal-Conservative	1873–78	2nd Session, 2nd Parliament to 3rd Parliament
3. Alexander Mackenzie	Liberal	1878–80	1st–2nd Session, 4th Parliament
4. Edward Blake	Liberal	1880–87	2nd Session, 4th Parliament to 1st Session, 6th Parliament
5. Wilfrid Laurier	Liberal	1887–96	1st Session, 6th Parliament to 7th Parliament
6. Sir Charles Tupper	Conservative	1896–1901	8th Parliament
7. Robert Borden	Conservative	1901–11	9th Parliament to 11th Parliament
8. Sir Wilfrid Laurier	Liberal	1911–19	12th Parliament to 1st Session, 13th Parliament
9. Daniel McKenzie	Liberal	1919	2nd Session, 13th Parliament
10. W.L. Mackenzie King	Liberal	1919–21	3rd–5th Session, 13th Parliament
11. Arthur Meighen	Conservative	1921–26	14th Parliament to 1st Session, 15th Parliament
12. W.L. Mackenzie King	Liberal	1926	1st Session, 15th Parliament
13. Hugh Guthrie	Conservative	1926–27	1st Session, 16th Parliament
14. R.B. Bennett	Conservative	1927–30	2nd–4th Session, 16th Parliament
15. W.L. Mackenzie King	Liberal	1930–35	17th Parliament
16. R.B. Bennett	Conservative	1935–38	1st–3rd Session, 18th Parliament
17. Robert J. Manion	Conservative	1938–40	4th–6th Session, 18th Parliament
18. Richard B. Hanson	Conservative	1940–43	1st–3rd Session, 19th Parliament
19. Gordon Graydon	Progressive Conservative	1943–45	4th–6th Session, 19th Parliament
20. John Bracken	Progressive Conservative	1945–48	1st–4th Session, 20th Parliament
21. George Drew	Progressive Conservative	1948–54	5th Session, 20th Parliament to 1st Session, 22nd Parliament
22. W. Earl Rowe	Progressive Conservative	1954–55	2nd Session, 22nd Parliament
23. George Drew	Progressive Conservative	1955–56	2nd–3rd Session, 22nd Parliament
24. W. Earl Rowe	Progressive Conservative	1956	3rd–4th Session, 22nd Parliament
25. John Diefenbaker	Progressive Conservative	1956–57	4th–5th Session, 22nd Parliament
26. Louis St-Laurent	Liberal	1957–58	1st Session, 23rd Parliament
27. Lester B. Pearson	Liberal	1958–63	1st Session, 23rd Parliament to 25th Parliament
28. John Diefenbaker	Progressive Conservative	1963–67	26th Parliament to 2nd Session, 27th Parliament
29. Michael Starr	Progressive Conservative	1967	2nd Session, 27th Parliament
30. Robert Stanfield	Progressive Conservative	1967–76	2nd Session, 27th Parliament to 1st Session, 30th Parliament
31. Joseph Clark	Progressive Conservative	1976–79	1st–4th Session, 30th Parliament
32. Pierre E. Trudeau	Liberal	1979–80	31st Parliament
33. Joseph Clark	Progressive Conservative	1980–83	1st Session, 32nd Parliament
34. Erik Nielsen	Progressive Conservative	1983	1st Session, 32nd Parliament
35. Brian Mulroney	Progressive Conservative	1983–84	1st–2nd Session, 32nd Parliament
36. John Turner	Liberal	1984–90	33rd Parliament to 2nd Session, 34th Parliament
37. Herb Gray	Liberal	1990	2nd Session, 34th Parliament
38. Jean Chrétien	Liberal	1990–93	2nd–3rd Session, 34th Parliament
39. Lucien Bouchard	Bloc Québécois	1993–96	1st Session, 35th Parliament
40. Gilles Duceppe	Bloc Québécois	1996	1st Session, 35th Parliament
41. Michel Gauthier	Bloc Québécois	1996–97	2nd Session, 35th Parliament
42. Gilles Duceppe	Bloc Québécois	1997	2nd Session, 35th Parliament
43. Preston Manning	Reform	1997–2000	1st–2nd Session, 36th Parliament
44. Deborah Grey	Canadian Alliance	2000	2nd Session, 36th Parliament
45. Stockwell Day	Canadian Alliance	2000–01	2nd Session, 36th Parliament to 1st Session, 37th Parliament
46. John Reynolds	Canadian Alliance	2001–02	1st Session, 37th Parliament
47. Stephen Harper	Canadian Alliance	2002–04	1st–2nd Session, 37th Parliament
48. Grant Hill	Conservative	2004	3rd Session, 37th Parliament
49. Stephen Harper	Conservative	2004–06	3rd Session, 37th Parliament to 38th Parliament
50. Bill Graham	Liberal	2006	1st Session, 39th Parliament
51. Stéphane Dion	Liberal	2006–08	1st Session, 39th Parliament to 1st Session, 40th Parliament
52. Michael Ignatieff	Liberal	2008–11	2nd–3rd Session, 40th Parliament
53. Jack Layton	New Democrat	2011	1st Session, 41st Parliament
54. Nycole Turmel	New Democrat	2011–12	1st Session, 41st Parliament
55. Thomas J. Mulcair	New Democrat	2012–15	1st–2nd Session, 41st Parliament
56. Rona Ambrose	Conservative	2015–17	1st Session, 42nd Parliament
57. Andrew Scheer	Conservative	2017–Present	1st Session, 42nd Parliament to Present

1.: In the First Parliament, following the general election of 1867, the Members who sat in the House opposite the government of Sir John A. Macdonald did not constitute a party but a coalition of various interests, just as the government did. A number of historians state that John Sandfield Macdonald (Reform Member for Cornwall and the first Premier of Ontario), who had campaigned in alliance with Sir John A. Macdonald in the general election, was appointed Leader of the Opposition by the government. Other historians hold that although Alexander Mackenzie (Lambton) was not formally appointed Leader of the Opposition until March 6, 1873, when he assumed the leadership of the Liberal Party, he was de facto Leader of the Opposition as early as 1869 (see William Buckingham and George William Ross, The Hon. Alexander Mackenzie: His Life and Times, 5th ed. (Toronto: Rose, 1892), pp. 242, 254, 329; John Childs Courtney, “Party Leadership Selection in the New Dominion”, Canadian Political Party Systems: A Reader, ed. R.K. Carty (Peterborough: Broadview, 1992), p. 108; Donald Creighton, John A. Macdonald: The Old Chieftain (Toronto: Macmillan, 1955), p. 4; Joseph Schull, Edward Blake: The Man of the Other Way (1833–1881), vol. 1 (Toronto: Macmillan, 1975), p. 46; Dale Cairns Thomson, Alexander Mackenzie: Clear Grit (Toronto: Macmillan, 1960), p. 103).

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