The Laurentian elite, also referred to as the Laurentian Consensus, is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

political term used to refer to individuals in the upper class of society who live along the

St. Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (, ) is a large international river in the middle latitudes of North America connecting the Great Lakes to the North Atlantic Ocean. Its waters flow in a northeasterly direction from Lake Ontario to the Gulf of St. Lawren ...

and watershed in major Central Canadian cities such as

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

and

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, an area which represents a significant portion of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

’s population. The term has been used to describe the belief that a general governing

political Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

consensus existed in Canada due to the influence of the Laurentian elite from

Confederation A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

until the early twenty-first century. The term is generally attributed to

John Ibbitson John Ibbitson (born 1955) is a Canadian journalist. Since 1999, he has been a political writer and columnist for ''The Globe and Mail''. Career Ibbitson graduated from the University of Toronto in 1979 with a B.A. in English. After university, ...

, who wrote extensively about the Laurentian elite following the

2011 Canadian federal election The 2011 Canadian federal election was held on May 2, 2011, to elect members to the House of Commons of Canada of the 41st Canadian Parliament. The writs of election for the 2011 election were issued by Governor General of Canada, Governor Gene ...

(though he has shared the credit for coining it with University of Toronto academic David Cameron). Ibbitson later expanded his coverage in the book ''The Big Shift: The Seismic Change in Canadian Politics, Business, and Culture and What It Means for Our Future'' published in 2013 by Darrell Bricker and Ibbitson, in which the authors argue that the Laurentian Consensus is on course to be replaced by a new political coalition consisting of Western Canada and suburban Ontario. The term has since been adopted by other journalists and political commentators as a shorthand for the Central Canadian establishment.

Description

Ibbitson described the Laurentians as "the political, academic, cultural, media and business elites" of central Canada who were responsible for shaping

Canadian identity Canadian identity refers to the unique culture, characteristics and condition of being Canadian, as well as the many symbols and expressions that set Canada and Canadians apart from other peoples and cultures of the world. Changes in demographics, ...

. He argued that Laurentians viewed Canada as "a fragile nation" kept together by the federal government but protected from the

United States of America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguo ...

. Ibbitson associated the Laurentian elite with the

Liberal Party of Canada The Liberal Party of Canada (LPC; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism,McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson"Liberal Party". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia''. and generally sits at the Centrism, ...

and sometimes politicians from the former

Progressive Conservative Party of Canada The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (PC; ) was a Centrism, centre to centre-right List of federal political parties in Canada, federal political party in Canada that existed from 1942 to 2003. From Canadian Confederation in 1867 unti ...

while associating "The Conservative Coalition" with prairie populism that dominates Western Canada's politics. He believes polices such as the

National Policy The National Policy was a Canadian economic program introduced by John A. Macdonald's Conservative Party in 1876. After Macdonald led the Conservatives to victory in the 1878 Canadian federal election, he began implementing his policy in 1879. ...

and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms were a result of the Laurentians. Ibbitson points to the election of

Stephen Harper Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. He is to date the only prime minister to have come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ser ...

and the

Conservative Party of Canada The Conservative Party of Canada (CPC; , ), sometimes referred to as the Tories, is a Government of Canada, federal List of political parties in Canada, political party in Canada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main Right-wing ...

with a majority government in the

without significant support in

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

as a sign of the decline of the Laurentian Consensus. He suggest that this gradual decline was due to infighting within the Liberal Party, immigration into the 905 region that shifted "Ontario's orientation toward the West", rising oil prices fueling economic and population growth in

Western Canada Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces, Canadian West, or Western provinces of Canada, and commonly known within Canada as the West, is a list of regions of Canada, Canadian region that includes the four western provinces and t ...

, a weakening

Quebec sovereignty movement The Quebec sovereignty movement (French: ''mouvement souverainiste du Québec'', ) is a political movement advocating for Quebec's independence from Canada. Proponents argue that Quebecers form a distinct nation with a unique culture, language, ...

, and a growing sense of

patriotism Patriotism is the feeling of love, devotion, and a sense of attachment to one's country or state. This attachment can be a combination of different feelings for things such as the language of one's homeland, and its ethnic, cultural, politic ...

. However, Ibbitson cautioned against the idea that Canada was becoming conservative by arguing that the values of the people who rejected the Laurentians were instead "realistic, pragmatic, cosmopolitan, global, forward thinking" and that progressive politicians should tailor to them.

Reception

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

political scientist Andrew McDougall has identified the attributes of Laurentian rule as being in favour of "tariffs to support manufacturing ndfarming industries" (most evident in the

) while being "tolerant to supportive of some internal trade barriers" and "generally pro-free trade" in the international context. With respect to the balance of power with the provinces, they are "supportive of cooperative federalism ndshared cost programs" but still nonetheless hold a "bias towards federal power." Drawing on the work of Peter J. Smith and

Donald Creighton Donald Grant Creighton (15 July 1902 – 19 December 1979) was a Canadian historian whose major works include ''The Commercial Empire of the St-Lawrence, 1760–1850'' (first published in 1937), a detailed study on the growth of the English merch ...

, Michael Cuenco in '' American Affairs'' has traced the evolution of the Laurentian elite from the

era to the present. Cuenco argues that they represent a distinct centralizing school of political economy, rooted in an early modern "court party" commercial liberal tradition, that carried over from the Conservative Party of Sir John A. Macdonald into the mid-century

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

governments of

William Lyon Mackenzie King William Lyon Mackenzie King (December 17, 1874 – July 22, 1950) was a Canadian statesman and politician who was the tenth prime minister of Canada for three non-consecutive terms from 1921 to 1926, 1926 to 1930, and 1935 to 1948. A Liberal ...

and his successors. Conversely, Jared Milne writing for iPolitics took issues with some aspects of Ibbitson's description of the Laurentian elite, questioned if the 2011 election results would make

indigenous people There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...

and francophone Quebecers feel less alienated in this country. Milne suggested that Canada is composed groups that are a lot more similar than they realize.

References

{{Reflist Canadian political phrases Political party factions in Canada Social class in Canada Regionalism (politics) Elite theory

Description

Reception

See also

References