List of Leaders of the Official Opposition (Canada)

Last updated August 11, 2019

This is a List of Canadian Leaders of the Opposition. The Leader of the Opposition is usually the leader of the party with the second-most seats in the House of Commons of Canada, known as Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition. He or she is entitled to the same levels of pay and protection as a Cabinet Minister, and is often made a member of the Canadian Privy Council, generally the only non-government member of the House of Commons afforded that privilege.

The Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition is the leader of Canada's Official Opposition, the party possessing the most seats in the House of Commons that is not the governing party or part of the governing coalition. The current Leader of the Opposition is Andrew Scheer, M.P., who was elected Leader of the Conservative Party on May 27, 2017.

The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons currently meets in a temporary Commons chamber in the West Block of the parliament buildings on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, while the Centre Block, which houses the traditional Commons chamber, undergoes a ten-year renovation.

In Canada, Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition is usually the largest parliamentary opposition party in the House of Commons or in a provincial legislative assembly that is not in government, either on its own or as part of a governing coalition. Commonly referred to as the Official Opposition, this is usually the second-largest party in a legislative house although, in certain unusual circumstances, it may be a third- or fourth-largest party or even the largest party.

If the leader of the opposition party is not a Member of Parliament, then a sitting MP takes the role of acting Leader of the Opposition until the party leader can obtain a seat. If there is a leadership race occurring within the party, an MP (usually the interim or outgoing party leader) will serve as Leader of the Opposition until a new party leader is chosen.

The position is currently held by Andrew Scheer, leader of the Conservative Party, having been elected by the Conservative caucus on May 27, 2017.

Andrew James Scheer is a Canadian politician serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for the riding of Regina—Qu'Appelle since 2004. He is Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Official Opposition since 2017.

Nine of the previous officeholders only served as an acting Leader of the Opposition, including Deborah Grey (the first of three women to hold the position - Grey, Nycole Turmel and Rona Ambrose).

In law, when someone is said to be acting in a position it can mean that, the position has not yet been formally created, the person is only occupying the position temporarily to ensure continuity, or the person does not have a mandate.

Deborah Cleland Grey, is a Canadian former Member of Parliament from Alberta for the Reform Party of Canada, the Canadian Alliance, and the Conservative Party of Canada. She was the first female Leader of the Opposition in Canadian history. She currently serves on the advisory board of the Leaders' Debates Commission.

Two Leaders of the Opposition have died in office: Wilfrid Laurier in 1919 and Jack Layton in 2011.^[1]

Sir Henri Charles Wilfrid Laurier was the seventh prime minister of Canada, in office from 11 July 1896 to 6 October 1911.

John Gilbert "Jack" Layton was a Canadian politician and Leader of the Official Opposition. He was leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP) from 2003 to 2011, and previously sat on Toronto City Council, occasionally holding the title of acting mayor or deputy mayor of Toronto during his tenure as city councillor. He was the Member of Parliament for Toronto—Danforth from 2004 until his death.

Leaders of the Opposition

Liberal Party of Canada

Liberal-Conservative Party, Conservative Party of Canada (historical), Progressive Conservative Party of Canada

Bloc Québécois

Reform Party of Canada

Canadian Alliance

Conservative Party of Canada

New Democratic Party

Leader of the Opposition			Party	Took Office^[2]	Left Office^[2]
1		Alexander Mackenzie 1st time	Liberal	March 1873	November 5, 1873	John A. Macdonald
2		John A. Macdonald	Liberal-Conservative	November 6, 1873	October 16, 1878	Alexander Mackenzie
(1)		Alexander Mackenzie 2nd time	Liberal	October 17, 1878	April 27, 1880	John A. Macdonald
–	vacant		Liberal	April 28, 1880	May 3, 1880
3		Edward Blake	Liberal	May 4, 1880	June 2, 1887
–	vacant		Liberal	June 3, 1887	June 22, 1887
4		Wilfrid Laurier 1st time	Liberal	June 23, 1887	July 10, 1896
						John Abbott
						John Sparrow David Thompson
						Mackenzie Bowell
						Charles Tupper
5		Charles Tupper ^{[NB 1]}	Conservative (historical)	July 11, 1896	February 5, 1901	Wilfrid Laurier
6		Robert Borden	Conservative (historical)	February 6, 1901	October 9, 1911	Wilfrid Laurier
(4)		Wilfrid Laurier 2nd time	Liberal	October 10, 1911	February 17, 1919^{[NB 2]}	Robert Borden
7		Daniel Duncan McKenzie (acting)^{[NB 3]}	Liberal	February 17, 1919	August 7, 1919
8		William Lyon Mackenzie King 1st time	Liberal	August 7, 1919	December 28, 1921
8		William Lyon Mackenzie King 1st time	Liberal	August 7, 1919	December 28, 1921	Arthur Meighen
9		Arthur Meighen ^{[NB 4]}	Conservative (historical)	December 29, 1921	June 28, 1926	William Lyon Mackenzie King
(8)		William Lyon Mackenzie King 2nd time	Liberal	June 29, 1926	September 24, 1926	Arthur Meighen
–	vacant^{[NB 5]}		Conservative (historical)	September 25, 1926	October 10, 1926	William Lyon Mackenzie King
10		Hugh Guthrie ^{[NB 6]}	Conservative (historical)	October 11, 1926	October 11, 1927
11		Richard Bedford Bennett 1st time	Conservative (historical)	October 12, 1927	August 6, 1930
(8)		William Lyon Mackenzie King 3rd time	Liberal	August 7, 1930	October 22, 1935	R. B. Bennett
(11)		Richard Bedford Bennett 2nd time	Conservative (historical)	October 23, 1935	July 6, 1938	William Lyon Mackenzie King
12		Robert Manion	Conservative (historical)	July 7, 1938	May 13, 1940
13		Richard Hanson (acting)^{[NB 7]}	Conservative (historical), then Progressive Conservative ^{[NB 8]}	May 14, 1940	1943
14		Gordon Graydon (acting)^{[NB 9]}	Progressive Conservative	1943	June 10, 1945
15		John Bracken	Progressive Conservative	June 11, 1945	July 20, 1948
–	vacant		Progressive Conservative	July 21, 1948	October 1, 1948
16		George A. Drew 1st time	Progressive Conservative	October 2, 1948	November 1, 1954
16		George A. Drew 1st time	Progressive Conservative	October 2, 1948	November 1, 1954	Louis St. Laurent
17		William Earl Rowe (acting)^{[NB 10]} 1st time	Progressive Conservative	November 1, 1954	February 1, 1955
(16)		George A. Drew 2nd time	Progressive Conservative	February 1, 1955	August 1, 1956
(17)		William Earl Rowe (acting) 2nd time	Progressive Conservative	August 1, 1956	December 13, 1956
18		John George Diefenbaker 1st time	Progressive Conservative	December 14, 1956	June 20, 1957
19		Louis St. Laurent	Liberal	June 21, 1957	January 15, 1958	John Diefenbaker
20		Lester B. Pearson	Liberal	January 16, 1958	April 21, 1963	John Diefenbaker
(18)		John George Diefenbaker 2nd time	Progressive Conservative	April 22, 1963	September 8, 1967	Lester B. Pearson
21		Michael Starr (acting)^{[NB 11]}	Progressive Conservative	September 9, 1967	November 5, 1967
22		Robert Stanfield	Progressive Conservative	November 6, 1967	February 21, 1976
22		Robert Stanfield	Progressive Conservative	November 6, 1967	February 21, 1976	Pierre Trudeau
23		Joe Clark 1st time	Progressive Conservative	February 22, 1976	June 3, 1979	Pierre Trudeau
24		Pierre Elliott Trudeau	Liberal	June 4, 1979	March 2, 1980	Joe Clark
(23)		Joe Clark 2nd time	Progressive Conservative	March 3, 1980	February 1, 1983	Pierre Trudeau
25		Erik Nielsen (acting)^{[NB 12]}	Progressive Conservative	February 2, 1983	August 28, 1983
26		Brian Mulroney	Progressive Conservative	August 29, 1983	September 16, 1984
26		Brian Mulroney	Progressive Conservative	August 29, 1983	September 16, 1984	John Turner
27		John Turner	Liberal	September 17, 1984	February 7, 1990	Brian Mulroney
28		Herb Gray (acting)^{[NB 13]}	Liberal	February 8, 1990	December 20, 1990
29		Jean Chrétien	Liberal	December 21, 1990	October 24, 1993
29		Jean Chrétien	Liberal	December 21, 1990	October 24, 1993	Kim Campbell
30		Lucien Bouchard	Bloc Québécois	October 25, 1993	January 14, 1996	Jean Chrétien
31		Gilles Duceppe (acting)^{[NB 14]} 1st time	Bloc Québécois	January 15, 1996	February 16, 1996
32		Michel Gauthier	Bloc Québécois	February 17, 1996	March 14, 1997
(31)		Gilles Duceppe 2nd time	Bloc Québécois	March 15, 1997	June 1, 1997
33		Preston Manning	Reform	June 2, 1997	March 26, 2000
34		Deborah Grey (acting)^{[NB 15]}	Canadian Alliance	March 27, 2000	September 10, 2000
35		Stockwell Day	Canadian Alliance	September 11, 2000	December 11, 2001
36		John Reynolds (acting)^{[NB 16]}	Canadian Alliance	December 12, 2001	May 20, 2002
37		Stephen Harper 1st time	Canadian Alliance	May 21, 2002	January 8, 2004
37		Stephen Harper 1st time	Canadian Alliance	May 21, 2002	January 8, 2004	Paul Martin
38		Grant Hill (acting)^{[NB 17]}	Canadian Alliance	January 9, 2004	February 1, 2004
(38)		Grant Hill (acting)^{[NB 17]}	Conservative	February 2, 2004^{[NB 18]}	March 19, 2004
(37)		Stephen Harper 2nd time	Conservative	March 20, 2004	February 5, 2006
39		Bill Graham ^{[NB 19]}	Liberal	February 6, 2006	December 1, 2006	Stephen Harper
40		Stéphane Dion	Liberal	December 2, 2006	December 9, 2008
41		Michael Ignatieff ^{[NB 20]}	Liberal	December 10, 2008	May 1, 2011
42		Jack Layton	New Democratic	May 2, 2011	August 22, 2011^{[NB 2]}
43		Nycole Turmel	New Democratic	August 23, 2011^{[NB 21]}	March 23, 2012
44		Thomas Mulcair	New Democratic	March 24, 2012	November 4, 2015
45		Rona Ambrose ^{[NB 22]}	Conservative	November 5, 2015	May 27, 2017	Justin Trudeau
46		Andrew Scheer	Conservative	May 27, 2017	Incumbent	Justin Trudeau

Deputy Leaders of the Opposition


Deputy Leader of the Opposition	Took Office	Left Office	Leader	Notes
Unknown				Insufficient information
Denis Lebel ^[3]	November 19, 2015	July 23, 2017	Rona Ambrose
Lisa Raitt	July 24, 2017	Incumbent	Andrew Scheer

Notes

↑ Tupper lost his seat in the 1900 election and resigned as party leader and Leader of the Opposition three months later.
1 2 Died in office.
↑ McKenzie served as interim Leader of the Opposition from Laurier's death until King's election as leader of the Liberal Party.
↑ Arthur Meighen's Conservatives formed the Official Opposition although the Progressive Party had more seats.
↑ Meighen failed to win his seat and immediately resigned as leader of the Conservative Party.
↑ Guthrie served as interim Leader of the Opposition from shortly after Meighen's resignation until Bennett's election as leader of the Conservative Party.
↑ Hanson served as interim Leader of the Opposition from Manion's resignation until Meighen's election as leader of the Conservative Party. He continued as acting Leader of the Opposition throughout Meighen's term as Conservative leader, as Meighen failed in his attempts to win election to the House of Commons, and continued as acting Leader of the Opposition from Bracken's election as PC leader until his own resignation.
↑ The Conservative Party was renamed the Progressive Conservative Party in 1942.
↑ Graydon served as acting Leader of the Opposition from Hanson's resignation until Bracken entered Parliament in the 20th general election.
↑ Rowe served as acting Leader of the Opposition in winter 1954-55 due to Drew's poor health.
↑ Starr served as acting Leader of the Opposition from Stanfield's election as PC leader until Stanfield entered Parliament via by-election.
↑ Nielsen served as acting Leader of the Opposition for the two weeks preceding Clark's resignation from the post of leader of the PC Party. He continued as interim Leader of the Opposition during the 1983 Progressive Conservative leadership campaign in which Clark unsuccessfully ran to succeed himself. Nielsen continued as acting Leader of the Opposition from Mulroney's election as PC leader until Mulroney entered Parliament via by-election.
↑ Gray served as parliamentary leader of the Liberal Party from John Turner's announcement that he would be stepping down through Chrétien's election as Liberal leader and until Chrétien entered Parliament via by-election.
↑ Duceppe served as interim Leader of the Opposition during the 1996 Bloc Québécois leadership election initiated by Bouchard's sudden resignation from federal politics to become Premier of Quebec.
↑ Grey served as interim Leader of the Opposition during the 2000 Canadian Alliance leadership campaign in which Manning unsuccessfully ran to succeed himself. She continued as acting Leader of the Opposition from Day's election as Alliance leader until Day entered Parliament via byelection.
↑ Reynolds served as interim Leader of the Opposition during the 2002 Canadian Alliance leadership campaign in which Day unsuccessfully ran to succeed himself. He continued as acting Leader of the Opposition from Harper's election as Alliance leader until Harper entered Parliament via by-election.
↑ Hill served as interim Leader of the Opposition during the 2004 Conservative leadership election in which Harper successfully ran to be leader of the new party.
↑ Although the PC Party and Canadian Alliance were recognized as merged on December 7, 2003, by Elections Canada, they did not merge their parliamentary caucuses until February 2, 2004.
↑ Graham served as interim parliamentary leader and Leader of the Opposition until the 2006 Liberal leadership convention.
↑ Ignatieff served as interim Leader of the Opposition until the 2009 Liberal leadership convention.
↑ Turmel became interim leader of the NDP on July 28, 2011, when Layton began his leave of absence, but she did not become the Leader of the Opposition until Layton's death.
↑ Ambrose was elected interim party leader by the Conservative caucus to serve until a permanent leader is elected at the next Conservative Party of Canada leadership election.

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References

↑ McGregor, Janyce (August 22, 2011). "Parliament and Layton's passing". CBC News. Retrieved August 23, 2011.
1 2 Parliament of Canada. "Leaders of the Official Opposition" . Retrieved March 27, 2012.
↑ "THE HONOURABLE DENIS LEBEL - ROLES - HOUSE OF COMMONS OF CANADA" . Retrieved March 4, 2019.

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