Laurentian Consensus

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The Laurentian Consensus, is a Canadian political term, first coined by John Ibbitson[1][2] in 2011. It is used to describe the belief that a general governing political consensus existed in Canada from Confederation until the early twenty first century with the election of Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party of Canada with a majority government in the 2011 Canadian Federal Election without significant support in Quebec.

Members of the group who hold these beliefs are termed Laurentian Elites, in reference to individuals in the upper class of society who live along the St. Lawrence River and watershed in major cities such as Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto, an area which represents a significant portion of Canada’s population.[3] This consensus included politicians from both the Liberal Party of Canada and the former Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, and is believed to still be influential in guiding Liberal Party policy.[4][5][6]

Ibbitson described the Laurentians as “the political, academic, cultural, media and business elites” of central Canada who were responsible for shaping Canadian identity.[7] This concept of the Laurentian Elites and the political consensus that was postulated to exist was expanded in the book The Big Shift: The Seismic Change in Canadian Politics, Business, and Culture and What It Means for Our Future published in 2013 by Darrell Bricker and John Ibbitson.

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References[]

  1. ^ John Ibbitson (9 December 2011). "The death of the Laurentian consensus and what it says about Canada". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  2. ^ John Ibbitson (2012). "The Collapse of the Laurentian Consensus". Literary Review of Canada. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  3. ^ Jen Gerson (6 March 2019). "Canadian Politics Aren't Cute. They're Corrupt". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  4. ^ Tasha Kheiriddin (21 October 2015). "So the Laurentian elite is back in business. Sorry, western Canada". National Post. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  5. ^ John Ibbitson (22 March 2019). "Laurentian Consensus at the centre of Trudeau's missteps in the SNC-Lavalin affair". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  6. ^ "Time and again, Alberta's budget has been rescued by higher oil prices. Don't count on another repeat". The Globe and Mail. 29 September 2020. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
  7. ^ John Weissenberger (26 November 2019). "The Laurentian "Elite": Canada's Ruling Class". C2C Journal. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
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