# Liberal Party of Canada The **Liberal Party of Canada** is the centrist party that governed for much of the twentieth century — so often that commentators dubbed it "the natural governing party." It is the institutional embodiment of what the Canadian right calls the Laurentian elite: the central-Canadian, Ottawa-and-Toronto establishment that [[Western Alienation]] and the [[Reform Party of Canada]] organized against. Under [[Pierre Trudeau]] it centralized federal power, patriated the Constitution, and made multiculturalism official; under [[Justin Trudeau]] it returned from third place to a decade in government before handing off to [[Mark Carney]] in 2025. For the vault, the Liberals function as the foil that defines the Canadian right: nearly every figure in the [[Canadian History Hub]]'s conservative lineage built a career running against this party. Its resilience — repeatedly written off, repeatedly returning to power — is itself a feature of the Canadian political landscape. > [!note] Stub > Phase 1 spine stub. Expand: the dynasty era, the Chrétien-Martin years, the 2011 collapse to third place, the 2015 Trudeau revival, the 2025 Carney succession.