1. POLITICAL SPECTRUM LEFT WING  RIGHT WING Left Centre Right
Canada’s four OFFICIAL political parties on the following spectrum are as follows:
NDP Bloc Quebecois Liberal Conservative
Left Centre Right
Liberalism Conservatism
Socialism Democracy Authoritarianism
Communism Totalitarianism

2. POLITICAL SPECTRUM LEFT RIGHT
Universal social programs
Self-reliance
Rehabilitation of criminals
Capital punishment
Government intervention in the economy
Free-enterprise economy
Maximizing civil and moral liberty
Retaining conservative moral codes
The superiority of reason and science
The importance of tradition
Republicanism
Monarchy
Internationalism
Nationalism
Pacifism
Defence spending
High taxation
Low taxation
Freedom of choice in abortion
Restricted access to abortion

3. Everyone should have equality of condition.
POLITICAL SPECTRUM
LEFT
CENTRE
RIGHT
We should change social conditions as quickly as possible because inequality and injustice cannot be tolerated.
Change of social conditions should take place, but at a cautious pace.
The present system should be maintained. Change only when absolutely necessary and do it slowly and carefully, not suddenly.
Society is not bound by tradition because tradition promotes inequality between rich and poor.
Tradition is important, but change must be accepted if it is the will of the majority.
Traditions must be respected. They provide society with stability and security.
Government should take care of needy persons directly. It has a moral obligation.
There are many different approaches to caring for the needy. It can be done by the state or by privately run charities.
Government should not interfere in the lives of individuals (government provides a helping hand, not a handout). Private charity and self-reliance are better.
Everyone should have equality of condition.
Everyone should have equality of opportunity and condition.
Everyone should have equality of opportunity.
The rights of individuals are important, but less important than the right of the state to promote equality.
Law and order is important, but the rights of individuals come first.
Law and order has the highest priority, but rights of individuals are important too.
Key industries, banks, transportation facilities and natural resources should be owned by the government.
Some form of government management of the economy is necessary. It won’t look after itself.
Business and industry should be kept in the hands of private individuals. Only privately run businesses can respond to people’s economic needs efficiently.

4. POLITICAL SPECTRUM Liberal Party
New Democratic Party
Liberal Party
Conservative Party
Increased harmony between federal and provincial governments.
A strong federal government which can overrule provincial interests and hold the country together.
Greater provincial control of their own interests through federal-provincial agreements.
Less foreign ownership, more government ownership of companies. Key industries, banks, transportation facilities and natural resources should be in the hands of the government.
Canadian control of Canadian resources, broadcast and financial interests. Government ownership of some key businesses, such as Air Canada or Petro-Canada.
Less government ownership and more private ownership of businesses. Less government regulation of the economy—for example, foreign ownership of Canadian business should be permitted as long as it is in our interest.
High taxes for rich persons and companies, low taxes for poorer persons. The rich have a moral obligation to look after the poor.
Higher taxes for rich persons and business than for less well-off ones.
Lower taxes for higher-income persons, as too-high taxes reduce the desire to work hard. Hard work benefits the whole economy.
Favours tax reform to force large corporations to pay a greater share of taxes to help pay for social programs (e.g. welfare and Medicare).
Reduce unemployment through government-run programs (provide government tax money to create new or help existing businesses).
Reduce unemployment by lowering taxes for businesses (“trickle-down” economics theory: help private industry first, and the benefits will trickle down to the people). Reduce spending on some social programs (in favour of self-reliance).

5. ORIGIN OF TERMS, “LEFT-WING” AND “RIGHT-WING”
The terms date back to pre-revolutionary France. In 1789, the French National Assembly was created as a parliamentary body to move control of issues, such as taxation, from the king to the citizenry. Up until this time, the whole population of France was divided into three estates: the First Estate, made up of the clergy of the church (“those who prayed”); the Second Estate, made up of the nobility or aristocracy (“those who fought”); and the Third Estate, made up of everyone else, who worked (“those who laboured”). It had been a very long time since all three estates had met in the Estates General, largely because King Louis XIV had taken all power to himself in the previous century. However, because of numerous wars in Europe and other problems, such as drought, France was nearing bankruptcy and it was necessary to call a meeting of the Estates General. Each estate had an equal number of votes, even though a large majority of people belonged to the Third Estate. In practice, the First Estate and the Second Estate always voted together, so the Third Estate never got what it wanted. The Third Estate pushed to get all three estates to meet as one body so that they would have a lot more say, but this was turned down.

6. The Third Estate decided to have a meeting by itself, although some members of the clergy and nobility had joined them in sympathy. The Third Estate had just renamed itself the National Assembly. When they tried to enter the Estates General, they found themselves locked out, so they moved indoors to a nearby tennis court. Later on, inside the chamber where the National Assembly met, some members of the National Assembly sat on the left side of the chamber while other members sat on the right.

7. It was mostly the members of the Third Estate, which consisted of radical revolutionaries, who sat on the left side of the chamber, while the members of the First and Second Estates, who were conservative nobles and clergy, sat mostly on the right. Thus, the left wing of the room was more liberal, and the right wing was more conservative. Perhaps because the words "right" and "left" are two very short ways of summing up fundamental political disagreements, the terms have been used in this sense for more than 200 years.

8. LEFT, RIGHT, CENTRE, AND POLITICAL PARTIES TODAY
Since the time of the French Revolution political parties have been divided into left, right, and centre. Left-wing parties usually support the less fortunate in society. They wish to bring about rapid change in society. Right-wing parties, however, wish to preserve the established ways in society and tend to support the better-off people in society and business. The parties of the Centre often borrow ideas from both right-wing and left-wing parties. In Canada the parties can be divided into left, right, and centre.

9. There is a common saying that when three people get together to talk politics, they will come up with four different opinions. While this is an exaggeration, it does point out one of the problems of a democracy. If there are so many different opinions among Canadians, how can any common action be taken? Imagine for a moment the situation in the House of Commons if each member insisted on having things his or her own way. There would be few, if any, bills passed. Debates in the House would be endless. We would not have effective government in Canada.

10. Under these conditions, you can see why political opinions and ideas must be organized under broad categories. This is the role of political parties. Each political party has a political philosophy, or point of view. These political philosophies can be placed on what is called the “political spectrum”, ranging from the left wing to the right wing. Within this common set of beliefs or philosophy, there is still room for shades of opinion. Because of political parties, large groups of people can organize and gain control of the government. In this way, they will be able to make laws. Naturally, these should satisfy the majority of people in the country.