The Saskatchewan Progress Party (SPP) is a liberal political party in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan.
The party was the provincial affiliate of the Liberal Party of Canada until 2009. It was named the Saskatchewan Liberal Party until July 18, 2023. It was previously one of the two largest parties in the province, along with the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party and its precursors on its left, before being eclipsed by the Progressive Conservative Party of Saskatchewan from the right and later deserted by several members who contributed to the establishment of the centre-right Saskatchewan Party.
History
Early history
The party dominated Saskatchewan politics for the province's first forty years and provided six of the first seven Premiers who served between the province's creation in 1905 and World War II. Located on the middle of the political spectrum, it assiduously courted "ethnic" (i.e., non-British) voters and the organized farm movement. It refused to pander to "nativist" sentiment that culminated in the short, spectacular existence of the Ku Klux Klan in Saskatchewan in 1927–28. During the party's only spell out of power during this time following the 1929 election, it was the largest party in the Saskatchewan Legislative Assembly. It did not command a majority of seats and was relegated to the opposition benches after Progressives and independents decided to join with the Conservatives in a coalition government.
Varying fortunes (1944–1978) In the 1944 election, however, Saskatchewan experienced a dramatic change when it elected the first democratic socialist government in North America under Tommy Douglas and the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF). The Liberals were nearly wiped off the map, dropping from a strong majority of 38 seats to only five—the second-worst defeat of a sitting government in the province's history. The Liberals moved to the political right and stay there since. The Liberals remained out of power for twenty years until Ross Thatcher's victory in 1964 election. Thatcher led the Liberals to re-election in 1967.
After the defeat of the Liberals in the 1971 election at the hands of the CCF's successor, the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party, the party remained the principal opposition party in the province, albeit with a dwindling number of seats. However, in the 1978 election, the Liberals were completely shut out of the Legislature for the first time. The Progressive Conservatives replaced them as the principal opposition party in Saskatchewan.
Comeback (1986–1996) The Liberals didn't return to the Legislative Assembly until 1986, when party leader Ralph Goodale (later federal Deputy Liberal leader) was elected as the party's sole member.
The Liberals came under the leadership of future Lieutenant Governor Lynda Haverstock in 1989. The Liberals were only able to take limited advantage of the collapse of Grant Devine's scandal-ridden Conservative government in the 1991 election, but Haverstock was able to win her Saskatoon seat. Liberal candidate Anita Bergman also won a by-election in 1994.
In the 1995 election, the Liberals displaced the Progressive Conservatives to become the Official Opposition to the re-elected New Democratic government of Roy Romanow.
Dissent and decline (1996–2021) Dissatisfaction within the Liberal caucus led to the resignation of Lynda Haverstock as party leader. On November 24, 1996, the Saskatchewan Liberal party elected Jim Melenchuk on the third ballot as party leader. In 1997, four Liberal Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) joined forces with four MLAs from the Progressive Conservative Party of Saskatchewan to form the Saskatchewan Party.