Since time immemorial, the Liberal Party of Canada and the Conservative Party of Canada have been going head to head in trying to gain control of the Canadian government. Makarenko (2010), expresses this fact more succinctly, saying, “Beginning in the 1990s, Canadian national politics began to take on the appearance of a full-fledged multi-party system, though the Liberal and Conservative parties have been the only parties to form government in this period.” This has been done through their immense efforts to try and convince the citizens of how effective they will be when their representatives are voted into government. However, this is not to say that there aren’t any differences in terms of the political beliefs and party systems between these two political parties, which both contribute to the improvement of the state of affair in Canada.
Being the longest-running political party in the country, the Liberal Party of Canada has set its beliefs on spending more money on infrastructure and avoiding the notion of immediate balanced budgets. They are also intent on taxing the rich in order to allow others a break from taxes. The party members oppose anyone who is in support of cutting back certain social programs such as health care and pensions for old people. The party is also mainly set on improving economic equality such as providing unemployment insurance and providing student loans. The political system of the Liberal Party has a two-party system, since it is constantly in competition with one other popular political party in Canada to try and gain political power. It can also be said to have a two-party system since it was formed around two other different popular groups namely, the Clear Grits from Ontario and French radicals who were in Quebec (Makarenko, 2010).It has also been the most dominant political party for a long time and can thus be said to have a dominant party system. Currently, it is considered a one-party system under Tories (Olive, 2008).
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Being the country’s current governing party, the Conservative Party of Canada has set its beliefs on ensuring that they broaden the widths of tax breaks, economic management and security. The party aims at reducing taxes being paid by the citizens and providing a government that is less involved in the people’s lives, while maintaining law and order and a strong military for the protection of a country. It has based its ideology in making reforms so as to present the image of being a reformist party. The political party can be said to have a two-party system due to its constant competition with the Liberal Party of Canada for a long time (Makarenko, 2010). Looking back at the history of the Conservative Party, the political party governed from 1878 to 1896, under one leader, Macdonald, thus having a dominant political system.
When contrasting the two political parties, their political beliefs set them apart. The Liberal Party is more intent on promoting multiculturalism and bilingualism by focusing on francophone Canadians who have been appointed to represent the party. For this reason, it has strong support in Quebec. On the other hand, the Conservative party mainly supports British traditions and thus, does not have a strong support system in Quebec (CraigMarlatt). Also, the Liberal Party is more concerned with the conservative economic values and when in power, they party acted on cutting back government expenditure so as to cut down on deficits and introduce other social programs. The Conservative party is more concerned with making social reforms such as supporting social welfare and putting certain human rights measures as a way of reforming the country.
It is evident that through their different approaches, the two political parties both aim at improving Canada. The Liberal Party aims at uniting the different cultures in the country by promoting multiculturalism while the Conservative Party aims at improving the social welfare of people, both which are important political aspects. Thus despite having different political beliefs, both parties aim at improving the country.
References
CraigMarlatt . (n.d.). Political Ideologies in Canada . CraigMarlatt. Retrieved from http://www.craigmarlatt.com/school/politics/political_culture_political_ideologies_canada.pdf
Makarenko, J. (2010, June). Elections and Political Parties . Mapleleafweb. Retrieved from http://www.mapleleafweb.com/features/political-parties-and-party-system-canada-history-operation-and-issues.html
Olive, D. (2008, Sept). The Liberal Democratic Party . The Star. Retrieved from http://www.thestar.com/news/politics/federalelection/2008/09/20/the_liberal_democratic_party.html
