Her Majesty's official opposition (Canada)

Her Majesty's official opposition in Canada is usually the largest political party or coalition which is not a member of the government. This is usually the second-largest party in a legislative house, although in certain unusual circumstances it may be a third or fourth party.

The current official opposition is the Conservative Party of Canada.

They are viewed as the party tasked with keeping the government in check. They are also generally viewed as the alternative government. The Official Opposition maintains a shadow cabinet of MPs that have the same portfolios as actual ministers.

There are some official benefits to being official oppostion. It is the party that gets to speak first after the government, and gets more time in question period than any other party. It also gets more funding for research and staff than other parties.

From 1921 to 1924 the Progressive Party of Canada had more MPs than the Conservatives, but they turned down the chance of being official opposition and the position passed to the Tories.

In 1993 the Reform Party challenged whether the separatist Bloc Quebecois could hold the position of official opposition. The Speaker ruled in favour of the Bloc, however.

The leader of the Opposition party is called the "Leader of the Opposition" and is given an official residence in Ottawa.

Below is a list of leaders of Her Majesty's official opposition in Canada.

1.	George Brown	Liberal	1867-1872
2.	Alexander Mackenzie	Liberal	1873-1874
3.	Sir John A. Macdonald	Conservative	1874-1878
	Alexander Mackenzie (2nd time)	Liberal	1878-1880
4.	Edward Blake	Liberal	1880-1887
5.	Sir Wilfrid Laurier	Liberal	1887-1896
6.	Sir Charles Tupper	Conservative	1896-1901
7.	Sir Robert Borden	Conservative	1901-1911
	Sir Wilfrid Laurier (2nd time)	Liberal	1911-1919
*	Daniel D. McKenzie (acting)	Liberal	1919
8.	W. L. Mackenzie King	Liberal	1919-1921
9.	Arthur Meighen	Conservative	1921-1926
10.	Hugh Guthrie	Conservative	1926-1927
11.	R. B. Bennett	Conservative	1927-1930
	W. L. Mackenzie King (2nd time)	Liberal	1930-1935
	R. B. Bennett (2nd time)	Conservative	1935-1938
12.	R. J. Manion	Conservative	1938-1940
13.	R. B. Hanson	Conservative	1940-1943
*	Gordon Graydon (acting)	Conservative	1943-1945 Bracken not yet elected to Parliament
14.	John Bracken	[[Progressive Conservative Party of Canada|Progressive Conservative]]	1945-1948
15.	George A. Drew	Progressive Conservative	1948-1956
*	William Earl Rowe (acting)	Progressive Conservative	1954-1955, 1956 due to Drew's health
16.	John G. Diefenbaker	Progressive Conservative	1956-1957
17.	Louis St. Laurent	Liberal	1957-1958
18.	Lester B. Pearson	Liberal	1958-1963
	John G. Diefenbaker (2nd time)	Progressive Conservative	1963-1967
*	Michael Starr (acting)	Progressive Conservative	1967 Stanfield not yet elected to Parliament
19.	Robert L. Stanfield	Progressive Conservative	1967-1976
20.	Joe Clark	Progressive Conservative	1976-1979
21.	Pierre E. Trudeau	Liberal	1979-1980
	Joe Clark (2nd time)	Progressive Conservative	1980-1983
*	Erik Nielsen (acting)	Progressive Conservative	1983 Mulroney not yet elected to Parliament
22.	Brian Mulroney	Progressive Conservative	1983-1984
23.	John N. Turner	Liberal	1984-1990
*	Herb Gray (acting)	Liberal	1990 Chrétien not yet elected to Parliament
24.	Jean Chrétien	Liberal	1990-1993
25.	Lucien Bouchard	Bloc Québécois	1993-1996
*	Gilles Duceppe (acting)	Bloc Québécois	1996 BQ leadership contest
26.	Michel Gauthier	Bloc Québécois	1996-1997
27.	Gilles Duceppe	Bloc Québécois	1997
28.	E. Preston Manning	Reform	1997-2000
*	Deborah Grey (acting)	Canadian Alliance	2000 CA leadership contest
29.	Stockwell Day	Canadian Alliance	2000-2002
*	John Reynolds (acting)	Canadian Alliance	2002 CA leadership contest
30.	Stephen Harper	Canadian Alliance	2002-2004
*	Grant Hill (acting)	Conservative	2004 CPC leadership contest