Leader of the Official Opposition (Canada) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition
Incumbent Erin O'Toole since 24 August 2020
Style	The Honourable
Residence	Stornoway
Term length	While leader of the largest party not in government
Inaugural holder	Alexander Mackenzie
Formation	March 6, 1873
Succession	14th in order of precedence
Deputy	Vacant
Salary	$255,300 (2017)

The Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition (in French: French: chef de la loyale opposition de Sa Majesté) is a very important job in Canada's government. This person is the head of the Official Opposition. This means they lead the political party that has the second-most seats in the House of Commons. This party is not part of the group that is currently running the country.

The Leader of the Opposition's main role is to challenge the government. They ask tough questions and suggest different ways to do things. They also lead their party in Parliament. The current Leader of the Opposition is Erin O'Toole. He became the leader of the Conservative Party on August 24, 2020.

Who are the Leaders of the Opposition?

Here is a list of the people who have held this important role in Canada. They come from different political parties, each with its own colour to help you tell them apart.

     Liberal Party of Canada      Liberal-Conservative Party, Conservative Party of Canada (1867–1942), Progressive Conservative Party of Canada      Bloc Québécois      Reform Party of Canada      Canadian Alliance      Conservative Party of Canada      New Democratic Party

Leader of the Opposition			Party	Took office	Left office	Prime Minister
1		Alexander Mackenzie 1st time	Liberal	March 6, 1873	November 5, 1873		John A. Macdonald
2		John A. Macdonald	Liberal-Conservative	November 6, 1873	October 16, 1878		Alexander Mackenzie
(1)		Alexander Mackenzie 2nd time	Liberal	October 17, 1878	April 27, 1880		John A. Macdonald
–	vacant		Liberal	April 28, 1880	May 3, 1880
3		Edward Blake	Liberal	May 4, 1880	June 2, 1887
–	vacant		Liberal	June 3, 1887	June 22, 1887
4		Wilfrid Laurier 1st time	Liberal	June 23, 1887	July 10, 1896
							John Abbott
							John Sparrow David Thompson
							Mackenzie Bowell
							Charles Tupper
5		Charles Tupper	Conservative (historical)	July 11, 1896	February 5, 1901		Wilfrid Laurier
6		Robert Borden	Conservative (historical)	February 6, 1901	October 9, 1911
(4)		Wilfrid Laurier 2nd time	Liberal	October 10, 1911	February 17, 1919		Robert Borden
7		Daniel Duncan McKenzie (acting)	Liberal	February 17, 1919	August 7, 1919
8		William Lyon Mackenzie King 1st time	Liberal	August 7, 1919	December 28, 1921
							Arthur Meighen
9		Arthur Meighen	Conservative (historical)	December 29, 1921	June 28, 1926		William Lyon Mackenzie King
(8)		William Lyon Mackenzie King 2nd time	Liberal	June 29, 1926	September 24, 1926		Arthur Meighen
–	vacant		Conservative (historical)	September 25, 1926	October 10, 1926		William Lyon Mackenzie King
10		Hugh Guthrie	Conservative (historical)	October 11, 1926	October 11, 1927
11		Richard Bedford Bennett 1st time	Conservative (historical)	October 12, 1927	August 6, 1930
(8)		William Lyon Mackenzie King 3rd time	Liberal	August 7, 1930	October 22, 1935		R. B. Bennett
(11)		Richard Bedford Bennett 2nd time	Conservative (historical)	October 23, 1935	July 6, 1938		William Lyon Mackenzie King
12		Robert Manion	Conservative (historical)	July 7, 1938	May 13, 1940
13		Richard Hanson (acting)	Conservative (historical), then Progressive Conservative	May 14, 1940	January 1, 1943
14		Gordon Graydon (acting)	Progressive Conservative	January 1, 1943	June 10, 1945
15		John Bracken	Progressive Conservative	June 11, 1945	July 20, 1948
–	vacant		Progressive Conservative	July 21, 1948	October 1, 1948
16		George A. Drew 1st time	Progressive Conservative	October 2, 1948	November 1, 1954
							Louis St. Laurent
17		William Earl Rowe (acting) 1st time	Progressive Conservative	November 1, 1954	February 1, 1955
(16)		George A. Drew 2nd time	Progressive Conservative	February 1, 1955	August 1, 1956
(17)		William Earl Rowe (acting) 2nd time	Progressive Conservative	August 1, 1956	December 13, 1956
18		John George Diefenbaker 1st time	Progressive Conservative	December 14, 1956	June 20, 1957
19		Louis St. Laurent	Liberal	June 21, 1957	January 15, 1958		John Diefenbaker
20		Lester B. Pearson	Liberal	January 16, 1958	April 21, 1963
(18)		John George Diefenbaker 2nd time	Progressive Conservative	April 22, 1963	September 8, 1967		Lester B. Pearson
21		Michael Starr (acting)	Progressive Conservative	September 9, 1967	November 5, 1967
22		Robert Stanfield	Progressive Conservative	November 6, 1967	February 21, 1976
							Pierre Trudeau
23		Joe Clark 1st time	Progressive Conservative	February 22, 1976	June 3, 1979
24		Pierre Elliott Trudeau	Liberal	June 4, 1979	March 2, 1980		Joe Clark
(23)		Joe Clark 2nd time	Progressive Conservative	March 3, 1980	February 1, 1983		Pierre Trudeau
25		Erik Nielsen (acting)	Progressive Conservative	February 2, 1983	August 28, 1983
26		Brian Mulroney	Progressive Conservative	August 29, 1983	September 16, 1984
							John Turner
27		John Turner	Liberal	September 17, 1984	February 7, 1990		Brian Mulroney
28		Herb Gray (acting)	Liberal	February 8, 1990	December 20, 1990
29		Jean Chrétien	Liberal	December 21, 1990	October 24, 1993
							Kim Campbell
30		Lucien Bouchard	Bloc Québécois	October 25, 1993	January 14, 1996		Jean Chrétien
31		Gilles Duceppe (acting) 1st time	Bloc Québécois	January 15, 1996	February 16, 1996
32		Michel Gauthier	Bloc Québécois	February 17, 1996	March 14, 1997
(31)		Gilles Duceppe 2nd time	Bloc Québécois	March 15, 1997	June 1, 1997
33		Preston Manning	Reform	June 2, 1997	March 26, 2000
34		Deborah Grey (acting)	Canadian Alliance	March 27, 2000	September 10, 2000
35		Stockwell Day	Canadian Alliance	September 11, 2000	December 11, 2001
36		John Reynolds (acting)	Canadian Alliance	December 12, 2001	May 20, 2002
37		Stephen Harper 1st time	Canadian Alliance	May 21, 2002	January 8, 2004
							Paul Martin
38		Grant Hill (acting)	Canadian Alliance	January 9, 2004	February 1, 2004
(38)			Conservative	February 2, 2004	March 19, 2004
(37)		Stephen Harper 2nd time	Conservative	March 20, 2004	February 5, 2006
39		Bill Graham	Liberal	February 6, 2006	December 1, 2006		Stephen Harper
40		Stéphane Dion	Liberal	December 2, 2006	December 9, 2008
41		Michael Ignatieff	Liberal	December 10, 2008	May 1, 2011
42		Jack Layton	New Democratic	May 2, 2011	August 22, 2011
43		Nycole Turmel	New Democratic	August 23, 2011	March 23, 2012
44		Thomas Mulcair	New Democratic	March 24, 2012	November 4, 2015
45		Rona Ambrose	Conservative	November 5, 2015	May 27, 2017		Justin Trudeau
46		Andrew Scheer	Conservative	May 27, 2017	August 24, 2020
47		Erin O'Toole	Conservative	August 24, 2020	Incumbent

See also

In Spanish: Líder de la oposición oficial de Canadá para niños