List of Prime Ministers of Canada by religious affiliation

This is a list of Prime Ministers of Canada by religious affiliation. It notes party affiliation after the name. All Canadian Prime Ministers have affiliations with Christianity.

In early Canadian history, religion played an important role in politics. The Conservative Party was composed mainly of Anglicans and conservative French-Canadian Catholics while the Liberal Party was backed by reform-minded French Canadian Catholics and non-Anglican English Canadians due to their support in Quebec and Ontario. In recent years, religion has played a background role in Canadian politics. Modern Prime Ministers have been reticent about discussing their faith.

Roman Catholic (10 PMs, 18 mandates)

• Sir John Thompson (Conservative) (Born a Methodist but converted to Catholicism when he married.)
• Sir Wilfrid Laurier (Liberal) (Strongly anti-clerical.)
• Louis St. Laurent (Liberal)
• Pierre Trudeau (Liberal) (Believer in Catholic Personalism. Former board member of the Humanist Fellowship of Montreal.^[1])
• Joe Clark (Progressive Conservative)
• John Napier Turner (Liberal)
• Brian Mulroney (Progressive Conservative)
• Jean Chrétien (Liberal) (Strongly anti-clerical in his youth.)
• Paul Martin (Liberal) (Came into conflict with the Catholic Church over his support for the Civil Marriage Act, by not allowed Cabinet ministers to have conscience votes.)
• Justin Trudeau (Liberal) (Baptized and raised as a Catholic, became a lapsed Catholic in his youth until the death of his brother Michel. Mother was Anglican.)

Anglican (4 PMs, 8 mandates)

• Sir John A. Macdonald (Conservative) (Raised Presbyterian, converted in 1875.)
• Sir John Abbott (Conservative)
• Sir Robert Borden^[2] (Conservative) (Raised Presbyterian.)
• Kim Campbell (Progressive Conservative) (Does not attend church and criticizes the treatment of women by organized religion. In 2004 she stated that religion "gets in the way of morality".)^[3][4]

Presbyterian (3 PMs, 6 mandates)

• Sir Mackenzie Bowell (Conservative) (Orange Order leader)
• Arthur Meighen (Conservative) (Became a major fundraiser for the Salvation Army.^[5])
• William Lyon Mackenzie King (Liberal) (Also a believer in various forms of mysticism.)

Baptist (3 PMs, 4 mandates)

• Alexander Mackenzie (Liberal)
• Sir Charles Tupper (Conservative) (Born a Baptist, married an Anglican and attended that church with his family. On his own sometimes attended Baptist churches.)
• John Diefenbaker (Progressive Conservative)

United Church of Canada (2 PMs, 3 mandates)

• Richard Bedford Bennett (Conservative) (Was a Methodist before that denomination merged into the United Church of Canada.)
• Lester B. Pearson (Liberal) (Was a Methodist before that denomination merged into the United Church of Canada.)

Evangelical (1 PM, 3 mandates)

• Stephen Harper^[6] (Conservative) (Raised in the United Church of Canada.^[7] Subsequently, joined Christian and Missionary Alliance.)

Timeline

See also

• Religion in Canada
• Religious affiliations of Chancellors of Germany
• Religious affiliations of Prime Ministers of the Netherlands
• Religious affiliations of Presidents of the United States

References