The Parti bleu (, "Blue Party") was a political group that contested elections in the Eastern section of the

Province of Canada The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in British North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report ...

. The Blue Party was ideologically located on the

political right Right-wing politics is the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position based on natural law, economics, authority, property, ...

; it was also defined by its support for the Catholic Church, and later for supporting confederation. The party was formed in 1854 by conservative members of the former

Reform movement Reformism is a type of social movement that aims to bring a social system, social or also a political system closer to the community's ideal. A reform movement is distinguished from more Radicalism (politics), radical social movements such as re ...

, following in the tradition of

Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine Sir Louis-Hippolyte Ménard '' dit'' La Fontaine, 1st Baronet, KCMG (October 4, 1807 – February 26, 1864) was a Canadian politician who served as the first Premier of the United Province of Canada and the first head of a responsible governme ...

and

Francis Hincks Sir Francis Hincks, (December 14, 1807 – August 18, 1885) was a Canadian businessman, politician, and British colonial administrator. An immigrant from Ireland, he was the Co-Premier of the Province of Canada (1851–1854), Governor of Ba ...

. The first leader of the Blue Party,

George-Étienne Cartier Sir George-Étienne Cartier, 1st Baronet, (pronounced ; September 6, 1814May 20, 1873) was a Canadians, Canadian statesman and Fathers of Confederation, Father of Confederation. The English spelling of the name—George, instead of Georges, th ...

, was the Premier of Canada East. The Parti bleu held majorities in Canada East uninterrupted from 1854 to 1867; the party often formed coalition governments with the English-speaking Conservatives from Canada East, and the

Liberal-Conservative Party The Liberal-Conservative Party () was the formal name of the Conservative Party of Canada until 1917, and again from 1922 to 1938. Prior to 1970, candidates could run under any label they chose, and in many of Canada's early elections, there wer ...

from Canada West. Their main electoral challenge came from the

Parti rouge The (, "Red Party"; or , "Democratic Party") was a political group that contested elections in the Canada East, Eastern section of the Province of Canada. It was formed around 1847 by radical French-Canadians; the party was inspired by the ideas ...

, a secularist left-wing party. After

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 ...

in 1867, the party was dissolved; members became part of the Conservative Party of Quebec at the provincial level, 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 ...

federally.

History

The Reform Party was a broad movement, organized around achieving

responsible government Responsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability, the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy. Governments (the equivalent of the executive br ...

in the Province of Canada. Because responsible government was required to enact any form of self-government, it was supported by both liberals and conservatives who could not achieve their own policy aims without it. The Reform Party was thus able to draw in members from across the ideological spectrum. After 1848, when responsible government was introduced by the

Imperial Government The name imperial government () denotes two organs, created in 1500 and 1521, in the Holy Roman Empire, Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation to enable a unified political leadership, with input from the Princes. Both were composed of the empero ...

, the unifying policy of the movement had been achieved and the movement began to break down. By 1853, the government was unable to secure majorities on core legislation. By the time of election in 1854, the party had broken down into factions based on their ideological positions. The French-Canadian conservatives initially called themselves Ministerialists, in recognition of their support of the government and opposition of the Rouges and Liberals. By 1856, the Ministerialist faction had changed their name to Bleu. The Ministerialists experienced electoral success in the Canadian general election, 1854. They won 35 seats in Canada East, forming the largest group out of the Eastern members. Their strong electoral performance allowed them to form a

coalition government A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an ...

with the Canada West Conservatives led by

Allan MacNab Sir Allan Napier MacNab, 1st Baronet (19 February 1798 – 8 August 1862) was a Canadian political leader, land speculator and property investor, lawyer, soldier, and militia commander who served in the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada t ...

. Sir

Étienne-Paschal Taché Sir Étienne-Paschal Taché (5 September 1795 – 30 July 1865) was a Canadian medical doctor, politician, and Father of Confederation. His family had a long history in New France, but suffered serious financial reverses due to the Seven Y ...

was the first leader of the Ministerialist group, but was replaced by George-Étienne Cartier as the Blue Party was formed. The coalition between the Canada West Conservatives and Blue Party began the Liberal-Conservative tradition of government in the province. After the 1858 election, the Blue Party and Eastern-Canadian Conservatives became the largest group in the Legislative Assembly; they formed a coalition government with the Canada West Conservatives as the larger partner. Canada West had returned a majority of Liberal members, but the large majority commanded by the Blue Party and Conservatives in Canada East prevented the Liberals from taking power. The number of factions in the legislature made it difficult to secure majorities on government legislation, forcing the Blue-Conservative coalition out for a four-day period in 1858 after losing a

non-confidence vote A motion or vote of no confidence (or the inverse, a motion or vote of confidence) is a motion and corresponding vote thereon in a deliberative assembly (usually a legislative body) as to whether an officer (typically an executive) is deemed fit ...

. However, the new Liberal-Rouge government was unable to secure a majority in the Legislative Assembly, and the Blue Party reformed a ministry with the Conservatives.

Ideology

The Blue Party was ideologically moderate, established from the former reformers in Canada East. The party supported

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 ...

, the role of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

in Canadian society, and the dismantling of the seigneurial system. The Blue Party was opposed to the anti-clerical and republican positions of the

Leaders

Timeline

ImageSize = width:800 height:250 PlotArea = top:40 bottom:80 right:130 left:40 AlignBars = late DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:1854 till:1867 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:3 start:1855 Colors = id:canvas value:rgb(0.97,0.97,0.97) id:Bleu value:rgb(0,0.28,0.67) legend:Bleu Legend = columns:1 left:150 top:40 columnwidth:150 TextData = pos:(20,40) textcolor:black fontsize:M text:"Political parties:" Backgroundcolors = canvas:canvas BarData = bar:ept bar:gec bar:nfb PlotData= width:10 align:left fontsize:S shift:(5,-4) anchor:till bar:ept from:27/01/1855 till:02/08/1858 color:Bleu text:" Sir Étienne-Paschal Taché" from:30/05/1864 till:30/07/1865 color:Bleu text:" Sir Étienne-Paschal Taché" bar:gec from:26/11/1857 till:26/11/1857 color:Bleu text:" Sir George-Étienne Cartier" from:06/08/1858 till:24/05/1865 color:Bleu text:" Sir George-Étienne Cartier" bar:nfb from:30/07/1865 till:30/07/1867 color:Bleu text:" Sir Narcisse-Fortunat Belleau"

History

Ideology

Leaders

Timeline

References

See also