Democratic Representative Caucus

The Democratic Representative Caucus was a group of Canadian Members of Parliament who left the Canadian Alliance in 2001 in protest against the leadership of Stockwell Day. Day came under fire very shortly after his disappointing performance in the 2000 election, and soon came under the fire from members of his own caucus, and through the spring of 2001, several members of the Alliance resigned their shadow cabinet seats, the most high-profile resignation being that of deputy leader Deborah Grey.

On May 2, Art Hanger was the first Alliance MP suspended from caucus for criticizing Day. Two weeks later, on May 16, he was followed by Chuck Strahl, Gary Lunn, Jim Pankiw, Val Meredith, Grant McNally, Jay Hill and Jim Gouk. In late June, they were joined by Monte Solberg, Andy Burton and Brian Fitzpatrick, and in the first week of July by Inky Mark and Grey. Through the summer, this group of MPs sat as "Independent Alliance Caucus", and were jokingly dubbed the "Rebel Alliance" by political commentators.

In early September, an offer was made to the MPs to readmit them to the Alliance caucus if they promised to refrain from criticizing Day's leadership. The MPs surveyed their constituents, and on September 10, the offer was accepted by Hanger, Gouk, Solberg, Fitzpatrick and Burton. The remaining seven MPs refused, and initiated the Democratic Representative Caucus on September 12, with Strahl as its parliamentary leader and Grey as deputy leader. This was not intended as a new political party, but simply as a group caucus.