Progressive Canadian Party - Definition and Overview

The Progressive Canadian Party (PC Party) is a new federal political party in Canada. It is a right-of-centre 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 will be able to have the party's name on the ballot instead of being designated as independents.

Founding

Following the merger of the centre-right Progressive Conservative Party of Canada and the centre-right Canadian Alliance into the new more 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 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 has nominated 16 candidates for the 2004 general election, mostly in Nova Scotia, and in the London, Ontario area, and elsewhere in Ontario.

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

• Eligibility: March 26, 2004
• Short-form Name: PC Party
• Party Leader: Ernie Schreiber
• Chief Agent: R. Paul Lumsden
• Auditor: Luc Imbeau, C.A.

External links

• Progressive Canadian Party website (http://www.pcparty.org/)
• Elections Canada On-Line Political Parties Candidates and Third Parties (http://www.elections.ca/content.asp?section=pol&document=index&dir=par&lang=e&textonly=false#pcp)
• CBC News.ca: New 'PC party' registers with Elections Canada (http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2004/03/29/canada/pcparty_register040329)

Federal Political Parties of Canada
Liberal	Conservative	B.Q.	N.D.P.
Not represented in the House of Commons
Action	C.H.P.	Communist	Green
Libertarian	Marijuana	Marxist-Leninist	PC Party
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