On December 8, 2003 the Conservative Party of Canada was registered with Elections Canada, making the merger of the Canadian Alliance Party and the Progressive Conservative Party official.
In announcing the results of his party's vote for the merger, Canadian Alliance leader Stephen Harper said the new Conservative Party of Canada "is a home to conservatives of all types - economic conservatives, social conservatives, democratic reformers, and Red Tories." Noble words, but when it comes to policy they might be difficult to implement.
Members of the Canadian Alliance Party, which had 63 seats in the House of Commons at the close of the session in November 2003, voted 96 percent for the merger of the two parties.
Members of the federal Progressive Conservative Party, which had 15 seats in the House of Commons at the close of the session, voted 90 percent for the merger. A last-minute court challenge of the merger by Progressive Conservative David Orchard and 22 others was thrown out of court on December 5, the day before the Progressive Conservative vote.
Leadership of the Conservative Party
Senator John Lynch-Staunton, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, had signing authority as the interim leader of the Conservative Party of Canada until the Conservative Party could elect a leader at a leadership convention in March 2004.
Initially Stephen Harper and Peter MacKay acted as the principal spokesmen for the Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative caucuses, which remained separate for a while. In January 2004, Stephen Harper stepped down so he could run for the leadership.
Three candidates entered the leadership race - Stephen Harper, Belinda Stronach, CEO and President of Magna International, and Tony Clement, founding President of the Canadian Alliance Party and the Ontario Progressive Conservative Minister of Health during the SARS crisis. Harper was the front runner throughout the leadership race and won with 56 percent of the points. Belinda Stronach was second with 35 percent and Tony Clement received nine percent.
Stephen Harper appointed Peter MacKay as Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party the day after the leadership convention.
Organization of the Conservative Party
An interim joint council was formed and given the responsibility of drafting a constitution for the party and establishing riding associations.
The Conservative Party did not form separate provincial parties, but maintains relationships with the current provincial Progressive Conservative parties across the country. The Canadian Alliance did not have provincial parties.
Conservatives Form the Government
In the 2006 federal general election, Stephen Harper led the Conservatives to a minority government.
