Stan Schumacher

Stanley Stanford Schumacher, a Conservative MP from Palliser in Alberta, left the PC caucus to sit as an Independent in 1978 over a dispute with party leader Joe Clark. Schumacher felt sidelined under Clark's leadership and disagreed with the party's direction on several policy issues. The departure of an Alberta Conservative was noteworthy because Alberta was the unshakeable heartland of western Canadian conservatism.

Schumacher did not run again federally. His departure from the Conservative caucus was a minor episode in the broader story of Joe Clark's difficult relationship with the right wing of his own party — tensions that would eventually lead to Clark's removal as leader in 1983 and the rise of Brian Mulroney.