The Parti canadien (also Parti patriote) was a political party in what is now Quebec, Canada, that was founded by members of the liberal elite of French Canada at the beginning of the 19th century.

Under the leadership of Pierre Bédard , the party campaigned for ministerial responsibility and the election of the Legislative Council. At that time, the council was chosen by an appointed British Governor, which the Parti canadien considered to be severely corrupted and hostile to the interests of the majority of the population.

In 1806, the Parti canadien imitated its political adversaries, the Tories, in founding a newspaper named Le Canadien. In 1810, Bédard and some of his colleagues at the newspaper were arrested and imprisoned without trial for a comment published in Le Canadien.

In 1815, Louis-Joseph Papineau, considered a moderate at the time, won the leadership of the party. His reformist ideas gained in authority and popularity until the suspension of the Constitutional Act in 1837.

In 1826, the party took the name of Parti patriote following a change of strategy. The new strategy was considered too radical by some of its members who eventually left the party, most notably John Neilson.

See also

• Liberalism
• Contributions to liberal theory
• Liberalism worldwide
• List of liberal parties
• Liberal democracy
• Timeline of Quebec history
• Liberalism in Canada
• Patriotes Rebellions
• List of Canadian political parties