Confederation of Regions Party of Canada

Confederation of Regions Party of Canada

The Confederation of Regions Party was started in Western Canada to fill the void left on the far right of the political spectrum left by the decline of the Social Credit Party of Canada and the growing unpopularity of the Progressive Conservatives of Brian Mulroney among westerners.

The CoR captured about 2% of the vote in provincial elections in Ontario and Manitoba in 1990 and 1988. They took 2.1% of the vote, federally in 1984, in the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan.

In 1988, the CoR elected a new leader from New Brunswick. He led the party to 4.3% of the vote within the province in the federal election. On the provincial level in New Brunswick, the provincial Liberals held all the seats in the legislature. The Progressive Conservatives in the province were weak, and when the CoR ran in the 1991 election, they captured 21.2% of the vote, to 20.7% for the Progressive Conservatives. The CoR took 8 seats, and formed the official opposition.

Lack of support from Acadians, and policies that were perceived by some to be extremist, led to the party's downfall, the party did not re-elect a single MLA in 1995, and fell behind the New Democrats in popular vote.

Many former CoR supporters went on to support the Reform Party of Canada