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The Liberal Party was formed before Canadian Confederation. Notable leaders and Prime Ministers from Canada’s history include George Brown, Alexander Mackenzie, Wilfrid Laurier, Mackenzie King, Louis St. Laurent, Lester Pearson, Pierre Trudeau, and John Turner.

John Turner won the leadership of the Liberals after Pierre Trudeau stepped down and retired in 1984. He called a snap election as soon as he was in office but Brian Mulroney and the Progressive Conservatives won the election with a majority victory.

Turner resigned as Liberal leader in 1990 and at the leadership convention in Calgary in June the same year, Jean Chretien won.

In the 1993 federal election, the Liberals, led by Chretien, won a large majority of 177 seats while the Progressive Conservatives won just two seats.

The Liberals were re-elected in 1997 and 2000 with Jean Chretien as Prime Minister.

Jean Chretien remained as leader until he stepped down and a leadership convention occurred in 2003. The winner at that convention was Paul Martin and he was soon after sworn in by the Governor General as Prime Minister.

Paul Martin’s Liberal party won the federal election in 2004 but were only successful in securing a minority government.

In late 2005, Martin asked the Governor General to dissolve parliament and called an election for early the next year. Largely because of the sponsorship scandal (illegal spending by the Liberal government to companies in Quebec), the Liberals lost support and in the ensuing election in January 2006, won 103 seats, losing to the Conservatives who won a minority government.

Bill Graham acted as interim leader when Paul Martin decided to not take the position of Leader of the Official Opposition. The Liberals would hold leadership conventions in 2006 and also in 2009. Stephane Dion won the leadership in 2006 but lost seats in the election of 2008, and decided he would not lead the party into another election.

Michael Ignatieff acted as interim leader and went on to win the 2009 Liberal leadership race, after losing to Stephane Dion in 2006.

In the 2011 federal election, the Liberals came in third behind the Conservatives and the NDP and were only able to secure 34 seats in the House – a historical low for the party.

After the election, Ignatieff stepped down and Bob Rae was chosen as interim leader. In 2013, Justin Trudeau was elected leader of the Liberal Party. In 2015, Trudeau led the Liberals to a major win securing 184 seats in the House.

In the 2019 election the Liberals failed to secure a second majority, but remained in government winning 157 seats.

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