ABERHART, William (1878 - 1943)

"Bible Bill" Aberhart was Premier of Alberta from 1935 to his death in 1943. He was the founder of the Western Canadian Social Credit political movement. A former Baptist preacher, he fused the statist economic theories of the Social Credit philosophy with religious populism and became a popular leader during the depression. He is now often criticized for personifying the worst aspects of intolerant Christian fundamentalism from that era.

BENNETT, William Andrew Cecil (1900-1979)

W.A.C. Bennett, as we was known, was Premier of British Columbia for 20 years, from 1952 to 1972. He was also the founder of the BC Social Credit Party. Today he is considered BC's greatest Premier, and it was under his rule that the province evolved into a fully modernized, industrialized, and developed region of Canada on par with Ontario and Quebec. In 1975 his son, Bill Bennett Jr. was elected Premier and served until 1985, forming a Social Credit dynasty.

BOUCHARD, Lucien

Lucien Bouchard was the separatist Premier of Quebec from 1996 to 2001. He was also the founder and first leader of the federal separatist party, the Bloc Quebecois. He served as Leader of the Opposition in the parliament from 1993 to 1996 when the Bloc was the second-biggest party in the House. He was considered the most fiery and charismatic Quebec nationalist leader since Rene Levesque, and was very successful in giving new enthusiasm to the separatist cause during the 1990's. Bouchard has some horrible disease and during his time in office one of his legs had to be amputated.

BROADBENT, Edward

Ed Broadbent was the most successful leader of the NDP. He led the party from 1975-1985 and ran for Prime Minister in four elections. Under his rule the NDP peaked, and in 1984 the party got 43 members of parliament elected- a leadership feat which has not been duplicated by any of Broadbent's forgettable successors.

BYNG, Lord of Vimy (1862–1935)

Lord Byng was a prominent British World War I general who served as Governor General of Canada from 1921 to 1926. He controversially fired Prime Minister Mackenzie King from office when the Prime Minister asked to him call a new election less than eight months after the previous one. Byng appointed Conservative Party leader Arthur Meighen to be the new Prime Minister, but in the next election King was re-elected by arguing he had been illegally overthrown by the meddling Englishman.

CAMP, Dalton (1920-2002)

Dalton Camp was never actually an elected politician, but was a very influential"behind the scenes" member of the Progressive Conservative Party during the 1950's. He helped orchestrate the election of Prime Minister John Diefenbaker, but after the PM lost his bid for re-election he helped orchestrate a movement to depose Dief and replace him with Robert Stanfield. Camp was considered a key figure in helping move the Progressive Conservative Party to the left, and founding the modern so-called "Red Tory" movement.

CHAREST, Jean

Jean Charest is the current Premier of Quebec. He was the first non-separatist Premier after nearly a decade of separatist administrations. Though he is now a member of the Liberal Party, he actually used to be the leader of the Progressive Conservatives from 1993 to 1998 and ran for Prime Minister in the 1997 election. He became leader because he was one of the only two PC Members of Parliament to get re-elected in the Liberal landslide of 1993. Before that he was a minister in Brian Mulroney's cabinet.

COPPS, Sheila

Sheila Copps was the first female Deputy Prime Minister of Canada, and served from 1993 to 1997 under Prime Minister Jean Chretein. She was also the first-ever Minister of Canadian Heritage and served until 2003. She was the leading voice for the left-wing faction of the Liberal Party and was known for being very loud and outspoken. Most controversially of all, she once spent millions of dollars creating a program in which all Canadians could get a free Maple Leaf Flag if they simply wrote her a letter and asked. She ran against Paul Martin for the Liberal leadership but lost badly.

CROSBIE, John

John Crosbie was a longtime member of the Progressive Conservative Party who served in Brian Mulroney's cabinet as minister of justice and various other positions. He was one of Newfoundland's most prominent politicians and known for his colorful personality. He is probably best remembered for an infamous exchange he had with Shelia Copps on the floor of the House of Commons. It went something like this:
CROSBIE (obviously hammered): You know Shelia, hearing your shrill bitching reminds me of an old Newfoundland sea-chanty; pass the tequila, Shelia, and lie down and love me again...
COPPS: I am offended sir!
CROSBIE: Ah, relax baby.
COPPS: I AM NOBODY'S BABY!!
And then Shelia ended up making "Nobody's Baby" the title of her memoirs. The end.

DALLAIRE, General Romeo

Romeo Dallaire has only recently become a Canadian politician, but he's long been a very well-known and respected figure in the country. In 1992 Dallaire was appointed head of a UN peacekeeping mission in Rwanda. While stationed there he witnessed the start of the nation's infamous genocide. He tried to tell the UN to take action, but nothing was ever done, and everyone now knows the tragic consequences that resulted. Dallaire has since become a high-profile human rights activist. He has stood by the UN, arguing that the organization itself is not flawed, but it has been rendered powerless by the arrogance of rich and powerful countries. In 2005 Prime Minister Martin made him a senator.

DAY, Stockwell

Stockwell Day was the leader of the Alliance Party from 2000 to 2001. He came to power after the Reform Party changed its name and turfed Preston Manning. He was praised for being young, handsome, and charismatic, but was criticized for his outspoken religious beliefs and general cocky attitude. He loved staging zany photo ops, some of which were popular while others were widely mocked. He ran for prime minister in the 2000 election but lost. His party quickly deposed him thereafter.

He now holds the rather Orwellian-sounding position of "Minister of Public Safety" in the government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

DOUGLAS, Thomas Clement (1904-1986)

Tommy Douglas was NDP premier of Saskatchewan from 1944 to 1961. As the first socialist to lead a government in North America his election was very controversial, with his opponents repeatedly accusing Douglas of being a Communist. In power, his main achievement was introducing government-run healthcare into Saskatchewan. After he resigned as Premier he became a member of the Canadian Parliament and led the NDP from 1961-1971. He is credited with inspiring the modern Canadian healthcare system and was named the Greatest Canadian of all time in a recent CBC poll. He is also Kiefer Sutherland's grandfather.

DUPLESSIS, Maurice (1890–1959)

Maurice Duplessis was Premier of Quebec twice, from 1936 to 1939 and then from 1944 to his death in 1959. He is now remembered mainly as a personification of the "old" conservative Quebec ruling establishment. His time in office perpetuated a system of rigid, oligarchical rule in which the Catholic Church and the state allied together to fight common enemies such as the labor movement. His death triggered an aggressive period of left-wing reforms in the province that would later be known as the "Quiet Revolution."

GOMERY, John

Justice John H. Gomery was a former judge on the Quebec Superior Court. He gained national fame when he was appointed by Prime Minister Martin to preside over a commission investigating corruption within the Liberal Party of Canada. His investigation, known as the Gomery Commission, found that there had been an active money-laundering scheme within the Liberals' Quebec wing that was siphoning federal tax dollars into the party treasury. His findings were very damning, and played a large role in triggering Martin's electoral defeat.

HARPER, Elijah

Elijah Harper was an Aboriginal member of the Parliament of Manitoba from 1981 to 1992. Today he is known as the guy who single-handedly dealt a crushing blow to Prime Minister Mulroney's 1990 "Meech Lake Accord" constitutional amendment package. Though the majority of the Manitoba Parliament were in favor of the amendments, Harper was not, because they did not explicitly grant any rights to Native peoples. So he filibustered, and thus prevented Meech Lake from being passed by the deadline. Since the accord needed unanimous consent from all the provincial parliaments the amendment was defeated. He was really just a "15 minutes of fame" type guy.

HARRIS, Michael

Mike Harris was the right-wing reformist Premier of Ontario from 1995 to 2002. He moved the Ontario Conservative Party away from its old "Tory" values and towards more aggressive policies of union confrontation, low taxes, and cuts to government spending. He is considered quite a hero to many conservatives.

KLEIN, Ralph

Ralph Klein was the longtime Premier of Alberta, serving from 1992 to 2007. He is probably one of Canada's most successful conservative politicians, and during his time in office he managed to keep Alberta an oasis of social conservatism in an increasingly liberal country. He was also known for his folksy, and frequenrly drunken charms. A recovering alcoholic, he only recently gave up booze.

LEVESQUE, Rene (1922-1987)

Rene Levesque was the first separatist Premier of Quebec, elected in 1976 and served until 1985. In 1980 his government held Quebec's first-ever referendum on separation from Canada. It failed in a 60% opposition vote- an embarrassing setback. Levesque is considered the modern founder of the Quebec separatist movement and was known for his charisma and rhetoric. He was also an obsessive chain-smoker and this is what eventually killed him.

LEWIS, Stephen

Stephen Lewis is currently a very respected Canadian diplomat. He is a member of the United Nations and does a lot of charity work in countries that are stricken by poverty and AIDS. Previously, Lewis was the leader of the Ontario NDP Party during the 1970's. His father, David Lewis had been the national NDP leader from 1971 to 1974. Stephen got his start at the UN when Prime Minister Brian Mulroney appointed him as Canada's ambassador to the United Nations in 1984.

MacKAY, Peter

Peter MacKay is the current Foreign Minister of Canada and was also the last leader of the Progressive Conservative Party. When he was elected leader in 2003 the party was facing a lot of turmoil and division over whether or not they should merge with the Alliance Party. To get elected, MacKay formed a pact with David Orchard, who was the leading candidate of the "no merge" side. Almost immediately after he won, MacKay quickly turned on Orchard and negotiated a merger anyway. MacKay is now the deputy leader of the new Conservative Party. He is the ex-boyfriend of Belinda Stronach, who at one time was another high-profile member of his party.

MANNING, Preston

Preston Manning was the founder of the conservative Reform Party and leader of the party from 1987 to 2000. He was the son of Ernest Manning who was the Social Credit premier of Alberta for 25 years (1943-1968). Like his father, Manning was a very conservative evangelical Christian who won a large following with his populist rhetoric of Western empowerment. He ran for Prime Minister twice, in 1993 and 1997. His party voted him out in 2000.

MacPHAIL, Agnes (1890-1954)

In 1920 Agnes MacPhail became the first woman ever elected to the Canadian Parliament. That's about it.

MURPHY, Emily (1868-1933)

Emily Murphy was a feminist activist in the early 20th Century. She, and four other prominent female Canadians ("the Famous Five") took the government to court in 1927 over the fact that women could not be appointed to the Senate of Canada. The constitution said that only "persons" could be appointed, and at the time women were not legally considered "persons." When the court threw the case out she appealed to the British government, who changed the law. Carine Wilson was appointed as Canada's first female Senator the following year. Emily's memory is fairly controversial today because she was also quite an outspoken racist.

PARIZAEAU, Jacques

Jacques Parizeau was the separatist Premier of Quebec from 1994 to 1996. During his time in office he organized another referendum on independence. When it failed to pass by a margin of less than 1% he blamed the immigrants.

RIEL, Louis (1844–1885)

Louis Reil was a radical figure in early 19th Century Canada. He is best-known for founding the province of Manitoba and serving as its first provisional president. He then helped negotiate the entry of Manitoba into Canada, but demanded the feds enshrine all sorts of complicated rights to preserve the traditions and culture of the Metis, a half-Indian racial minority group of which Riel was a part of. When the Canadian government later reneged on these promises, Riel became the leader of an armed secessionist rebellion for many years. He was eventually caught and executed for treason. Today some Canadians, especially French Canadians, see him as a hero and martyr for minority rights. The other thing about Riel is that he was a bit of a religious kook. He saw himself as a prophet of God, and viewed the Metis as the new "chosen people."

ROBINSON, Svend

For many years, Svend Robinson was probably one of the best-known MPs in parliament and was easily the best-known member of the NDP. He served for over 25 years, and was first elected in 1979. Openly gay and really, really left-wing, he was an outlandish character known for controversial statements and actions. He resigned in 2005 after admitting to stealing a diamond ring worth thousands of dollars. I've interviewed him twice, see here and here.

SMALLWOOD, Joseph R. (1900-1991)

Joey Smallwood was the first Premier of the Province of Newfoundland. When Newfound was still a separate country he was a prominent activist campaigning for annexation to Canada. After Newfoundland voters finally passed a referendum to join Canada in 1949, Smallwood was elected the new province's first premier. He served until 1972.

STANLEY, Lord of Preston (1841-1908)

Lord Stanley was a British aristocrat who served as Governor General of Canada from from 1888 to 1893. He founded the Stanley Cup award for professional hockey, which is still awarded today.

STANFIELD, Robert (1914–2003)

Robert Stanfield was the premier of Nova Scotia from 1956 to 1967 and then leader of the Progressive Conservative Party from 1967 to 1976. He ran for Prime Minister in three elections. He always came close to winning, but never could quite make it. He was admired for his moderate views and polite manners, though was also considered fairly dull and uninspiring. A common nickname is "the Best Prime Minister we never had."

STRONACH, Belinda

Belinda Stronach used to be a high-profile member of the Conservative Party until very recently. In 2004 after the PC and Alliance parties merged, Belinda, a successful corporate CEO, ran to be the leader of the new Party, but lost to Stephen Harper. In the 2004 election she got elected as a Conservative MP and quickly became a high-roller within the party. Everything changed in May of 2005 when she unexpectedly defected to the Liberal Party and became a minister in Prime Minister Martin's cabinet. This bold move allowed Martin to avoid being non-confidence voted, and has since earned Belinda a reputation as being a shallow, opportunistic traitor.

TRUDEAU, Margaret

Okay, so she's not a politician but I didn't know where else to stick her. Margaret was the wife of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and is probably the only Prime Ministerial wife anyone remembers. Trudeau married her while he was in office, when he was 52 and she was 23. They had three kids together, but their marriage was terrible. Though praised for her youthful spunk, Margaret was actually a manic-depressive who had a lot of emotional problems. She was soon regarded as a bit of a national embarrassment, due to her immature public antics. The couple ended up cheating on each other and they finally separated in 1977.