thumb|The Red Book's layout was distinctive and carefully crafted in comparison with other party platforms in 1993. It made extensive use of two typefaces: [[Sabon and Monotype Grotesque, which were popular in editorial design at the moment.]]

The Red Book, officially titled Creating Opportunity: The Liberal Plan for Canada, was the platform of the Liberal Party of Canada in the 1993 federal election. It earned its name from its bright red cover, red being the official colour of the Liberal Party. It was a 112-page booklet; many thousands of copies of it were printed, and it was widely distributed.

Purpose

It was exceptional in how specific it was; while platforms before and since have contained few substantive promises and many vague statements of principle, the Red Book laid out a long list of changes that the Liberals would make if brought to power.

It was one of the first "contract with the public" type platforms, an idea used by the United States Republican Party in its 1994 Contract with America and Mike Harris' 1995 Common Sense Revolution in Ontario.

1993 election

The Liberals, out of power since 1984, were widely expected to win the 1993 election based on the great pan-Canadian dislike for the Progressive Conservative government of Brian Mulroney. The Liberals under Jean Chrétien were worried by a jump in Tory support with the selection of new leader Kim Campbell.

A larger concern was the general Canadian antipathy towards politicians after the tumultuous and scandal plagued Mulroney years. The 1992 referendum on the Charlottetown Accord was widely interpreted of a rejection of Canada's political elite by the general population.

To attempt to break through the cynicism and distrust the Liberals felt that being more specific and making many promises would help ensure a victory, thus the Red Book was created.

The Red Book was drafted mainly by Paul Martin, who finished as runner-up in the 1990 Liberal leadership convention to Chrétien, and Chaviva Hošek a top policy official with the Liberals. By giving Martin a prominent role in the campaign, this was seen as Chrétien's attempt to unify the Liberal Party. Others contest whether some of these promises were kept or not. Some of the most notable promises from the Red Book that were kept were the pledge to cancel the purchase of new naval helicopters, canceling the sale of Toronto Pearson International Airport, reforming unemployment insurance, legislating more gun control, and reducing the size of the armed forces with the end of the Cold War. Perhaps the most important pledge kept was that of returning Canada to fiscal solvency.

New Liberal Red Books were published for the 1997 and 2000 elections.

  • How I Came to be Involved in the Red Book
  • Partial Text of the 1993 Red Book
  • Partial Text of the 1993 Red Book
  • Electronic text of the 1997 Red Book "Securing Our Future Together"
  • Electronic text of the 1997 Red Book "Securing Our Future Together"
  • Electronic contents of "Securing Our Future Together"
  • Electronic text of the 2000 Red Book "Opportunity for All"
  • CBC Analysis of the 2000 Red Book
  • Contents of the 2000 Red Book