In this blog we are going to tell you about Maverick Party, so read this blog carefully to get the complete information.
About Maverick Party
The Maverick Party was formerly known as Wexit Canada. It is a Canadian Federal political party that was founded two years ago on 10 January 2020. The party advocates for constitutional changes to the advantage or the independence of Western Canada which includes British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and the three territories. Alberta separatism is the root of the party. The present leader of the party is Jay Hill (interim) and the President of the party is Angela Propp Schmitt. The headquarter of the party is in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The political position of the party is right-wing to far-right.
History of the Maverick Party of Canada
In October 2019, the Wexit movement gained traction, shortly after the Canadian federal election of 2019 when the Liberal party candidate Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was re-elected to form a government. In August 2019 there were several meetings held by Wexit Alberta including a small summer meeting in Calgary’s beltline. A few months later another meeting in Calgary was held in which there were about 1700 attendees.
On 10 January 2020, according to the Canada Elections Act, the party became “eligible for registration” under section 387. At that time, it was recorded with the name “Wexit Canada” in the elections of Canada. The next day the party conducted a protest which involved approximately 100 supporters in Edmonton.
In starting of 2020, the party Wexit Alberta began purchasing billboards in Alberta by criticizing Prime Minister Trudeau for several things like ISI terrorist reintegration, tax theft, economic sabotage, foreign interference, and ethics violence. This sparked discussion among the public over the lack of representation in western Canada for some and also criticism of the billboards themselves for others. Simpatico, which was an advertising agency based in Regina and installed the billboards, promised to vet ads more carefully in the future. They stated that while the company fundamentally stands by freedom of expression as per the charter and further Signpatico is not intending on inciting perceptions of hate speech or offensive ads.
Then in September 2020, Hill declared that the party had changed its name to Maverick Party. And when the name of the party was changed, its record with the elections of Canada was also updated and it also remains eligible for registration whenever an election is called.
Provincial Wexit Parties
As the Wexit movement organized provincial parties to run candidates, the Maverick party was not directly affiliated with any of these parties. The two main leaders of the party were Peter Downing and Pay King.
Alberta Province
On 11 January 2020, a Wexit rally was held on the grounds of the Alberta legislature whose aim is to collect the 8400 signatures that are required for official party status. Wexit reserved the name Wexit Alberta in the elections of Alberta for use by a provincial party.
British Columbia Province
In November 2019, the members of Wexitgroup held a rally in Prince George. Then in 2020, Wexit British Columbia became a registered party in the elections of British Columbia. Officially, the party was run by two candidates in the British Columbia general elections of 2020.
Saskatchewan Province
In the 2019 federal election, the following day, Premier of Saskatchewan, Scott Moe, proposed a new deal with the Federal government. He called for an end to the federal carbon tax, renegotiation of the equalization formula, and action on oil pipeline projects so the Wexit volunteers began collecting signatures to form a new party. They called on Moe to hold a referendum on separation by saying that if he did not agree they will form a party to do so. Then on 10 March 2020, Wexit Saskatchewan became a registered provincial party in the elections of Saskatchewan.
Policies of Maverick Political Party
No politician has ever supported Western secession while working as a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons. Moreover, even at the provincial level, it is rare for Western legislators of Canada to clearly or openly sympathize with separatism. Gordon Kessler was the only Western candidate to win the by-election while openly running for a party with the secessionist platform. In the 1982 by-election, he won as a Western Canada concept MLA. Additionally, in that case, Kessler played down the separatist aspects of his platform of the party.
The party is looking for a presence in the house to advance its aim and ensure the frustration of Western Canadians is heard. After the election of Erin O’Toole as a new leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, Jay Hill was censured by saying that Western Canada would be on the “back burner” under the leadership of O’Toole. In September 2020, Hill also criticized O’Toole for his statements that the conservative party will ensure Canada meets the Paris Agreement climate change targets.
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Leaders of the Maverick Party
As the party was newly formed, there was only one leader, Peter Downing, who served from 10 January 2020 to 23 June 2020. Presently the party leader is Jay Hill who is interim and he is working since 23 June 2020.
Working of the Maverick Party
The Maverick Party planned to run candidates across the provinces above and three territories in the Canadian federal election of 2021. Still, it did not run candidates in ridings where there was a strong possibility of electing a Liberal or New Democratic Party candidate.
Currently, the Maverick Party is led by Jay Hill who is the former House leader of the Conservative Party of Canada. He has been serving since the resignation of the first party leader Peter Downing. He came out of retirement to work as interim leader of the Maverick Party until the elections were held for a new leader. According to Hill, he wants the party to serve a purpose in western Canada in a similar way as Bloc Québécois has done for Quebec.
So overall this article was about the Maverick Party of Canada which is a recently formed party and works from the right-wing to far-right in the political spectrum.
