Writ dropped on Federal election, one less choice for Westerners this time around
Elections Canada deregisters Maverick Party
Canadians anxious for change will finally get their chance to vote for a new government and a new prime minister, as the writ dropped on March 23. However, Western Canadian voters will find there’s less choice than in the 2021 Federal election.
The bureaucracy and red tape from that have plagued the Maverick Party since its formation in June 2020 led to the party being deregistered by Elections Canada on February 28.
Formed to give Western Canadians an alternate voting option and address long-term impediments to growth and prosperity in the West and the North, while recognizing that many Western Canadians were not ready to cut ties with Canada, the party was heralded as the Western Solution.
Initially led by former Prince George-Peace River MP Jay Hill, the party’s mission was “to achieve autonomy for western Canadians through (a) eliminating federal overreach and (b) total focus on Western provinces.”
In a statement released earlier this month, Maverick Party Leader, Colin Krieger said that it was getting harder to find approved auditors for the party’s annual audited financials, which had been costing the party up to $15,000 per filing.
“As you are well aware, the political landscape in Canada over the past few years has focussed exclusively on removing Trudeau as Prime Minister and the Liberal party as government. Even our staunchest supporters recognize that will only be done by the Conservatives under Pierre Poilievre,” Krieger said in his statement.
“That has not left a lot of room for the Maverick message.”
Krieger says that if Poilievre fails western Canada and starts to cater to eastern voters to stay in power, then the Maverick message will need to be heard again.
“And at that time, we will rise up to say it loudly.”
For now, the Maverick Party is taking a pause to regroup and see what happens in the April election.
In the meantime, in Prince George-Peace River-Northern Rockies, as of March 23 while Elections Canada’s website shows there are no registered candidates for the riding, there were two candidates listed on their respective political party’s websites – for the Conservative Party of Canada and the People’s Party of Canada.
The Conservative candidate listed is incumbent MP Bob Zimmer from Fort St. John, who has held the post since 2011 when the riding was called Prince George-Peace River, previously held by Fort St. John’s Jay Hill from 1993 – 2010.
Zimmer currently serves as the Shadow Minister for Northern Affairs and Arctic Sovereignty and has served on a variety of parliamentary committees including the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food, the Standing Committee for Natural Resources, and the Standing Committee for Veterans Affairs. He has also served as the Chair of the BC/Yukon Conservative Caucus.
The People’s Party candidate is David Watson, who is currently serving as Postmaster in Bear Lake, BC. Watson, a former Canadian Forces reservist, has worked in sales, insurance, and has spent a decade in the IT industry until 2020.
Stay tuned, there will be more to come as the campaign progresses and the parties announce their candidates.