Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Progressive Canadian Party
The Progressive Canadian Party (PC Party) is a minor federal political party in Canada. It is a progressive-conservative party that was officially registered with Elections Canada, the government's election agency, on March 29, 2004.
Under new provisions of the Canada Elections Act that took effect on May 14, 2004, the party need only nominate one candidate in order to qualify for official party status in the June 28, 2004 federal election. This means that the party's candidates were able to have the party's name on the ballot instead of being designated as independents.
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Founding
Following the merger of the centre-right Progressive Conservative Party of Canada and the conservative Canadian Alliance into the new right-wing Conservative Party of Canada, the Progressive Canadian Party was formed by former Progressive Conservatives who opposed the merger. Many of these are Red Tories, i.e., more centrist Progressive Conservatives. One of the organizers, Joe Hueglin, is a former Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) from Niagara Falls, Ontario.
In announcing the new party, Hueglin stated that the party had about a dozen potential candidates and a mailing list of 330 names. The party nominated 16 candidates for the 2004 general election, mostly in Nova Scotia, and in the London, Ontario area, and elsewhere in Ontario. They generally had little success.
The party is planning a national convention in 2005 to select a leader and to develop policies. It has also established the "Macdonald-Cartier PC Fund" to raise money for the party, under the direction of the Hon. Sinclair Stevens, who was a cabinet minister in the Progressive Conservative government of Brian Mulroney.
Platform and goals
The new PC Party aims to be the successor to the former Progressive Conservative Party. No sitting MPs or Senators have joined, and no prominent figures such as Joe Clark are associated with this new party. It is unknown what David Orchard's view on the new party is.
While the party does not have a policy platform yet, it is expected that it will be similar to that of the old Progressive Conservative party. The new party's official logo and initials are similar to that of the old party, apparently in an effort to capitalize on the well known PC brand name.
Election results
| Election | # of candidates | # of votes | % of popular vote |
| 2004 | 16 | 10,733 | 0.08% |
- Eligibility: March 26, 2004
- Short-form Name: PC Party
- Party Leader: Ernie Schreiber
- President: Tracy Parsons
- National Co-ordinator: Joe Hueglin
- Chief Agent: R. Paul Lumsden
- Auditor: Luc Imbeau , C.A.
External links
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