Parti bleu

Parti bleu
Founded1854 (1854)
Dissolved1867 (1867)
Preceded byReform Movement (Upper Canada)
Merged intoConservative Party of Quebec, Liberal-Conservative Party
HeadquartersMontreal, Canada East
IdeologyConservatism
Ultramontanism[citation needed]
Quebec nationalism
Political positionRight-wing
Colours  Blue

The Parti bleu (French for "Blue Party") was a political group that contested elections in the Eastern section of the Province of Canada.[1] The Blue Party was ideologically located on the political right, and was defined by its support for the Catholic Church, and later for supporting confederation.[2]

The party was formed in 1854 by conservative members of the former Reform movement, following in the tradition of Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine and Francis Hincks.[2] The first leader of the Blue Party, George-Étienne Cartier, was the Premier of Canada East. The Parti bleu held majorities in Canada East uninterrupted from 1854 to 1867, and often formed coalition governments with the English-speaking Conservatives from Canada East, and the Liberal-Conservative Party from Canada West. Their main electoral challenge came from the Parti rouge, a secularist left-wing party.[3] After confederation in 1867, the party was dissolved, and members became part of the Conservative Party of Quebec at the provincial level, and the Conservative Party of Canada federally.

  1. ^ Riendeau, Roger (2007). A Brief History of Canada. Infobase Publishing. pp. 167–168. ISBN 9781438108223. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
  2. ^ a b Cornell, Paul (1962). The Alignment of Political Groups in Canada, 1841-1867. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
  3. ^ Abulof, Urie (Jul 24, 2015). The Mortality and Morality of Nations: Jews, Afrikaners, and French-Canadians. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 90–91. ISBN 9781107097070. Retrieved 9 October 2017.