The Reform Party of Ontario was, until September 2003, a pseudo party that ran one candidate each election merely to keep the party’s name in the possession of the Reform Party of Canada. There is also a small group of conservative populists who lay claim to the moniker, but have been forced to run under the Independent Reform moniker.

The Reform Party of Ontario is not to be confused with the pre-Confederation Reform Party, which later became the Liberal Party of Ontario, or with the leftist United Reform party of the 1940s.

Official Reform Party of Ontario

The federal Reform party registered the "Reform Party of Ontario" in 1989, and re-registered it in 1994. This registration was made to prevent anyone else from using the 'Reform' name in Ontario politics. The RPO nominated one paper candidate in each provincial election in order to maintain the official registration, but did not campaign actively.

For instance Ken Kalopsis, the co-president of the Reform Party of Canada's successor, the Canadian Alliance, was hand-picked to run for the RPO in the 1999 provincial election in Davenport riding solely in order to control the rights to the party name. Kalopsis won 174 votes without campaigning.

Federal Reform leader, Preston Manning and Ontario Premier Mike Harris had a good relationship, and it was agreed that Reform would not run any candidates provincially. The provincial PCs returned the favour by lending support to Reform in federal politics.

Robert Beard was the party's leader in 2002. With the end of the federal Reform Party, the RPO was deregistered in September 2003.

Unofficial movement

In 1993, a handful of supporters of the Reform Party of Canada started a provincial Reform movement in Ontario. This movement was not affiliated with the national Reform party, which maintained a policy of remaining outside of provincial politics. The renegade Reformers were prevented from using the RFO name by Elections Canada, agency that oversees federal elecitons in Canada.

This small group of Reformers, that including one disaffected advisor to Mike Harris, formed a Reform Association for Ontario and ran unsuccessfully as candidates of the "Reform Association of Ontario" in 1995. The movement's leader was Kimble Ainslie, who alleged that Preston Manning and Mike Harris had arranged a secret deal to prevent the federal Reform Party from participating in provincial politics. Candidates were nominated in Huron riding and in other ridings in the London, Ontario and Kitchener-Waterloo areas against the Ontario PCs. These candidates won only a handful of votes.

Subsequent to the 1995 election, the small group of provincial Reformers founded Grassroots United Against Reform's Demise to lobby for the Reform Party's participation in provincial politics. However, the vast majority of Ontario Reform supporters backed the Focus Federally For Reform initiative. Those opposed to creating a real provincial party were successful, and the supporters lost their bid to have the party enter Ontario politics.

In the 1999 Ontario election, the Reform Association for Ontario again unsuccessfully ran an underdog Independent Reformer in Prince Edward-Hastings. The Reform Association for Ontario ran another Independent Reformer in Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound in the 2003 Ontario election, who was also unsuccessful.

The Reform Association for Ontario, now known as the Reform Ontario movement, continues to promote its agenda, including fixed election dates, a referendum on the issue of electoral reform, and more free votes in the legislature.

Reform Ontario claims to have supporters from the three big parties of Ontario Liberal Party, Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario and the Ontario New Democratic Party. It also claims to have a base of undecided voters of the fringe Green Party of Ontario, Family Coalition Party of Ontario, Confederation of Regions Party, Freedom Party of Ontario, and Ontario Libertarian Party. Further, it claims to have historic links to the Reform Party (pre-Confederation), Clear Grits, Northern Ontario Heritage Party, United Farmers of Ontario, and to the Ontario Party of Canada.

Despite these claims, Reform Ontario appears to be, at least for the moment, a small group of committed activists who operate web-based discussion forums and mailing lists, and not a mass movement.

See also

• List of Ontario general elections
• List of Canadian political parties

External links

Note: these links point to "Reform Ontario" pages, not in anyway connected to the official Reform Party of Ontario.

Reform Ontario reborn against the Mike Harris Ontario PCs

• Reform Ontario DMOZ
• Reform Ontario petition
• Reform Ontario listserv
• Reform Ontario website