Editing Liberal-Progressive (section)

==Federal politics==
With the [[Progressive Party of Canada|Progressive Party]]'s [[1921 Canadian federal election|1921 electoral breakthrough]], Canadian federal politics operated under a "three party system" for the first time. The [[Liberal Party of Canada|Liberal Party]] under [[William Lyon Mackenzie King]] tried to deal with this situation by co-opting the Progressives, offering to form a coalition with them. The Progressive Party refused. But by 1926, the party had split and some Progressives decided to support the Liberals, running as Liberal-Progressive or [[Liberal-Labour (Canada)|Liberal-Labour-Progressives]], or similar variations. This phenomenon occurred particularly in the [[1925 Canadian federal election|1925 election]] and the [[1926 Canadian federal election|1926 election]]. A number of Liberal-Progressive [[Member of Parliament (Canada)|Members of Parliament]] (MPs) became full-fledged Liberals in the 1930s. There was one Independent Liberal-Progressive candidate in 1925.

In the 1925 election, only one candidate ran—unsuccessfully—under the Liberal Progressive banner. There was also one Independent Liberal-Progressive candidate that year.

In the 1926 election, twelve candidates ran as Liberal-Progressives and eight were elected, including seven in Manitoba and one in Saskatchewan. There were three unsuccessful candidates in [[Ontario]]. Manitoba Liberal-Progressive, [[Robert Forke]], who was the group's leader, was appointed to the [[Canadian cabinet|Cabinet]]. These candidates were not opposed by the Liberal Party in the election and ran with the understanding that they would sit with and support the Liberals in Parliament and attend Liberal [[caucus]] meetings. Mackenzie King's Liberals alone did not have a majority of seats in the [[House of Commons of Canada|House of Commons]] after the 1926 election, but were able to form a [[minority government]] with the support of the Liberal-Progressives in the house. This government lasted for four years. The Liberal-Progressives also had their own caucus meetings and developed their own politics on certain issues, particularly in relation to agriculture. For example, they were critical of the 1927 federal budget for not reducing [[tariff]]s, a long-time Progressive demand.

In the [[1930 Canadian federal election|1930 election]], eight Liberal-Progressives ran in Manitoba, but only two were elected. One candidate was defeated by a Liberal candidate.

In the [[1935 Canadian federal election|1935 election]], five Liberal-Progressives ran in Manitoba, four of whom were elected. One of these won over a Liberal candidate, while the defeated Liberal-Progressive was defeated by a Liberal. In Ontario, [[Hughes Cleaver]] won [[Halton (federal electoral district)|Halton]] on the Liberal-Progressive ticket,<ref>{{cite news |last= Cleaver|first= Hughes|date= October 9, 1935|title= To the Electors of Halton County|url= http://news.haltonhills.halinet.on.ca/90335/page/2|work= The Georgetown Herald|page= 2}}</ref> but afterwards allied himself with the Liberals.

In the [[1940 Canadian federal election|1940 election]], two Liberal-Progressives ran in Manitoba, of whom one was elected. Two Liberal-Progressives ran in Ontario. Both were elected.

"National Liberal Progressive" was a political label used in the [[1940 Canadian federal election|federal election of 1940]], by [[W. Garfield Case]], in [[Grey North (federal electoral district)|Grey North]] [[electoral district (Canada)|electoral district]] in [[Ontario]]. Case listed 'Insurance manager' as his profession. He won 2,434 votes, 15.5% of the popular vote. The election was won by the [[Liberal Party of Canada|Liberal Party]] candidate, William P. Telford. When Telford resigned on 9 December 1944, to provide a vacancy for A.G.L. McNaughton, Case ran and won the 5 February 1945 by-election as the candidate of the [[Progressive Conservative Party of Canada]].

[[William Gilbert Weir]] was the longest-lasting Liberal-Progressive MP, winning his first election in the riding of Macdonald in Manitoba in 1930. He was re-elected as a Liberal-Progressive in 1935 and 1940. In 1945, 1949 and 1953, he was elected as a Liberal-Progressive for the riding of Portage-Neepawa, and was the sole candidate to run as under the Liberal-Progressive label in those elections. Weir served as Chief Government Whip from 1945 to 1953 and parliamentary assistant to Prime Minister [[Louis St. Laurent]] from 1953 to 1957. He was defeated in the [[1957 Canadian federal election|1957 election]], the first in which he ran as a Liberal.

Five MPs in all sat as Liberal-Progressives: [[Edgar Douglas Richmond Bissett]], [[Robert Forke]], [[James Allison Glen]], [[George William McDonald]] and [[William Gilbert Weir]]. Forke and Glen became ministers in Liberal cabinets (Glen also served as [[Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada]]) while Weir served as government whip for a number of years.

Forke was appointed to the [[Senate of Canada]] in 1929 and was the sole Liberal-Progressive to ever sit in that body.