1997-2004, new countries

A continuation of the previous posts.

The two new nations had been set up in a hurry.

The first thing the two new governments had to do was make long term plans about what kind of countries each would be.

1997

Most of the year was spent in a terrible rush, by both Federal governments, and all 10 Provincial governments, trying to deal with the new reality. Dwain Lingenfelter took over as Saskatchewan Premier due to Romanow's jump to Federal politics.

Paul Martin became Liberal leader in Canada and Quebec, but lost the Federal election.

1998

Following the change of the CCF into the NDP, provincial parties across the country changed their name. Anticipating a similar change, the provincial NDP wings in Western Canada held conventions on changing their name to the Progressive Party.

In Alberta there was an agreement between the Liberals and NDP to merge into a single party, with the new party being called the Liberal Democrats. They would face off against the "Conservatives" after the PC government opted for a name change and re-branding.

Saskatchewan and Manitoba's conventions both voted to go ahead with the name change, and thus became the Progressives, however, both name changes were held up by their elections agencies. In Manitoba, Gary Doer decided to wait out the Tories (and try to get them to follow suit with Alberta and change their name, thus freeing up the word Progressive) and use the interim party name Farmer-Labour. In Saskatchewan the party decided to go full force.

The Saskatchewan Party was the main opposition, and what was left of the Progressive Conservatives was a rump party. The Lingenfelter felt he could win. During the case, BC held its convention and shockingly decided to retain the NDP name. Lingenfelter not only lost the case, but, was told that due to the wording of the name change motion adopted at the convention - that the party stop being the NDP - that he could not change the name back. As such, he decided to change the party's name to the CCF considering it a temporary move until the next convention.

The Yukon faced a different problem. The Territorial Liberal party decided to change its name and co-opted the name Progressive, which was challenged by the NDP. In an effort to stop them, the NDP government changed the way Federal and Territorial parties interacted within the Yukon. This had the unintended consequence of submerging all Territorial parties within the larger Federal parties, and by the next year, the Yukon had only two parties in the Legislature, Reform and the Progressives.

In March, Robert Chisholm became the first NDP Premier of Nova Scotia, winning 21 seats. Chisholm was likely helped by Peter Stoffer, who ran and won Fall River, and helped campaign in two nearby ridings that were narrow victories over the Liberals. The Tories managed 15 seats, narrowly winning in Annapolis, as the Liberals also took 15, suffering from the blame voters put on the federal party for breaking up the country.

In November, Quebec went to the polls in their first election since achieving "sovereignty within Canada"


1999

After a full year spent wrangling the deficit, both Eastern and Western federal governments were finally able to start making long-term plans for the future again. A conference was called at Thunder Bay, inviting a dozen cabinet ministers from each government, the Premiers of all the Provinces and Territories (and the DPM of Quebec) and 5 Opposition members from each country (5 Progressives, 3 Liberals, 2 NDP) Their task was to discuss issues left over from the creation of the two countries.

One issue was certain islands within hudson's bay which are just offshore from Ontario and Quebec but which were legally part of the NWT, now Nunavut. It was decided that Islands within 20 KM of Ontario or Quebec would be purchased by those provinces; as would islands in James Bay and Ungava Bay.

An agreement was made to meet again during the next term of both Federal governments with the same arrangement of delegates, and the same location.

This year also saw the creation of the Western Canadian idea for a "Northern Route", and, working in conjunction with the government of Alaska, a plan was hatched to see a highway built from Juneau to Churchill, with plans to include possible rail and pipeline links across the area.

After narrowly winning a majority in a new election, Nova Scotia's NDP Premier, Robert Chisholm, suddenly resigned, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family. Peter Stoffer won the leadership election, and was sworn in as Premier of Nova Scotia.

The Quebec government collapses due to infighting within the PQ. Dozens of MNAs quit the party, and Gilles Duceppe was eventually called in to lead the party and was sworn in as Premier.

Many provincial elections were held this year.

Mike Harris in Ontario won a minority, likely in part due to his role in breaking up Canada.

In Saskatchewan, the CCF won 29 seats, compared to 25 for the Saskatchewan Party, and 4 for the Liberals. The Liberals and CCF entered into a Coalition.

NB saw the Tories win 44 seats and a majority, in NL the Liberals won a majority with 32, and in Manitoba, the Farmer-Labour party won a majority with 32 seats.

2000

In the Yukon, the Progressives won a majority government. In PEI, the PC Party won 26 of the 27 seats. The Liberals, still feeling the heat from breaking up the country, won 0 seats, while the NDP leader managed to narrowly hold on to his own seat.

Ontario elected a Liberal majority after the Harris minority fell.

Federally, both governments broke through to surplus this year, narrowly. Preston Manning used this as a chance to cancel the GST for the coming year, while Charest balanced minor tax cuts with spending increases.

2001

In BC the Liberals won a massive majority, taking all but 2 seats.

In Alberta the race was much closer, with the Conservatives under Stockwell Day winning 68 seats to 15 for the Liberal Democrats.

Federal elections were held in both Canadas, with the results detailed in an earlier post.

2002

Paul Martin decided to resign this year. He was replaced as Liberal leader by Shelia Copps.

No elections this year.

Western Canadian government continues with tax cuts.

2003

Many elections this year. PEI, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick all returned their majority governments. In PEI, the NDP won 4 seats, while the Liberals failed to win anything.

Newfoundland saw the PC Party win a majority.

Quebec was perhaps the most surprising. After the fracturing of the PQ, and weakness within the PLQ, Mario Dumont and the ADQ managed to secure a majority government in the province.

Most of the efforts of the Federal government in Western Canada were dedicated to successfully passing a constitutional amendment guaranteeing property rights.

A Constitutional amendment was also quietly and quickly passed in Canada and Quebec, returning, for all provinces except Quebec, power over aboriginal affairs to the Federal Government. This was a move initiated by Ontario, in agreement with NB, NS, and PEI.

The NDP held a leadership election this year and chose Jack Layton as leader.

2004

In Alberta, the Conservatives won 56 compared to 27 for the Liberal Democrats.

The biggest political story of the year was Charest retiring. The leadership convention to replace him was eventually won by Scott Brison, who was sworn in as Prime Minister. Brison became the first LGBT head of government in the world. Brisons election was very unpopular with some in the more socially conservative wing of the PC Party, and they staged a walkout of the convention, setting up their own Christian based opposition party. No MPs joined them, but a number announced they would not be running for re election.

In Western Canada, Preston Manning won endorsement of his party to again lead them into another election. Some accused Manning of hypocrisy as he had previously made comments that 2 terms was enough, but Manning argued that he was the strongest choice to lead the party, which some saw as an attack against Stephen Harper, who many were suggesting should have taken over as leader.

The Progressives also changed leaders after Romanow decided not to run in the coming election. Manitoba Premier Gary Doer was elected leader.



PREVIOUS POSTS:

https://pellakensblog.blogspot.ca/2017/08/first-eastern-canada-elections.html

https://pellakensblog.blogspot.ca/2017/08/western-canada-election.html

https://pellakensblog.blogspot.ca/2017/08/new-countries.html

https://pellakensblog.blogspot.ca/2017/08/alt-canada-story.html

https://pellakensblog.blogspot.ca/2017/08/quebec-west-canada-split-thingy.html