Outside Looking In: Small Parties
CBC Radio | Posted: October 8, 2015 4:01 AM | Last Updated: October 8, 2015
The big three Canadian political parties have been around for a long time. The faces have changed and the mandates evolved, but over the decades the Conservatives, Liberals and New Democrats remain both firmly established and familiar to Canadians. But on the edges of the political spectrum, there has always been room for other, smaller parties that have emerged over the years. In the lead-up to this month's federal election, Rewind looks at some of these fringe parties and the personalities who represented them.
The Communist Party was influential in Canada for many years, even if it was never in the mainstream. Founded in 1921, the Communist Party was illegal in Canada for a time, but it was still a significant and potent force. Tim Buck was the party's long-time leader. When there was a shake-up in the top ranks of Canada's Communist party in 1929, Buck was the Kremlin's hands-down choice to take over the leadership. In 1962, the party celebrated its 40th anniversary, and Tim Buck was still there, reminiscing about its biggest triumphs. The CBC program Close-Up presented a portrait of Tim Buck that year. He retired as general secretary not long after the piece first aired, but remained active in the party until his death in 1973.
"One of these days, there will be a working-class Prime Minister of Canada and he will head a working-class government. That will be the fulfillment of our aspirations." - Tim Buck, 1962
The official Communist Party of Canada isn't the only party to represent the far left. The Marxist-Leninist party was formed in the 1960s because of a difference in outlook over Soviet versus Chinese communism. Its leader was Hardial Bains. Canadian Communism had its best showings in federal elections in the 1930's and 40's. In spite of being officially banned, a few Communist members were elected to Parliament under the banner of the Labor-Progressive Party.
"It's high time we made the rich pay." - Hardial Bains, Leader of the Marxist-Leninist Party of Canada
The Social Credit Party was, in some ways, the flip side to the Communists: a populist conservative movement. Social Credit said capitalism had become inefficient and that its rewards were out of reach for too many people. What was needed was a redistribution of money, a 'social credit' so people could take part in the economy more readily. Its principles were first championed during the Great Depression by William "Bible Bill" Aberhardt, the great radio evangelist. By 1953, Aberhardt and his Social Credit party swept to power in Alberta. The movement spread to other provinces, in particular British Columbia and Quebec. A national party was born. Although the principles of Social Credit changed considerably during its years of influence, the party's platform and vision of conservative financial policies struck a nerve. In 1935 the Social Credit party had 17 seats in the House of Commons, 15 of them in Alberta. The Quebec wing was influential as well. By 1962 the party had 30 seats, reaching the pinnacle of its power but internal bickering and dissent led to its decline. By 1980, with Fabien Roy as its leader, the party was fighting for its life. Roy had won every time he ran for Social Credit, both provincially and federally, but in 1980 the party was in financial trouble and support for the movement was weak. Roy lost his seat in the 1980 election and resigned as leader not long after. The Social Credits would never again win a seat in the House of Commons and dissolved as a party in 1993.
Western alienation is a common thread in the formation of some of the smaller parties. The Reform Party was a case in point. It started life at a conference in 1987 called the "Western Assembly on Canada's Economic and Political Future." While the name was not exactly thrilling, the outcome would end up being hugely important in Canadian politics, for it was there that the new party was born. It didn't have a name at first, but it became known as the Reform Party of Canada, with Preston Manning its leader. A decade later in June 1997, the Reform Party became the official opposition after winning 60 seats. In 2000 the party morphed into the Canadian Alliance, then merged with the Progressive Conservatives in 2003 to form the modern day Conservative Party of Canada. In the spring of 2004, Stephen Harper became leader and two years later, he was elected Canada's 22nd prime minister.
The Libertarian Party was formed in 1973. Simply put, it stands for less government and less government intervention. In 1980 Wayne Grigsby talked to its leader Linda Cain on Cross Country Checkup.
Paul Hellyer was influential in traditional party politics, sat as an independent candidate AND formed his own political party. He was, and continues to be, one of the more colourful characters in Canadian politics.
Hellyer served as a Liberal Minister of Defence in the mid 1960s. Under his leadership, the three branches of the armed forces, the army, navy and air force, merged. He also served as Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau's senior minister. But in 1969 he clashed with Trudeau about policy and resigned from the party, becoming an independent. Two years later Hellyer decided to form his own party. It was called Action Canada.
An editorial in the Globe and Mail criticized Hellyer for starting a new party, suggesting that he should join the Tories instead. He did exactly that a year later, but lost his seat two years later in 1974 when Pierre Trudeau's minority Liberals won a majority. But Hellyer wasn't through with politics yet. In 1976, he ran for the leadership of the Progressive Conservatives but lost to Joe Clark. In 1982, he rejoined the Liberal party, but did not seek office. In 1997, after more than 20 years out of federal politics, Hellyer returned to the hustings to once again run for the party he had founded so many years ago, the Canadian Action Party. He did not win that year or in 2000 when he tried again.
In 1988, the newest small party to emerge was the Christian Heritage Party, or CHP. The Christian Heritage Party did not elect any MPs in that year's election, or in any since then. However, they are once again fielding candidates in this federal election.
"We are going to be one the major contenders in this election. We have policies that most Canadians can associate with. They're based on biblical principles." - Bill Andres, Christian heritage Party
In 1984 Brian Mulroney's Progressive Conservatives won in a landslide, defeating John Turner's Liberals. And although a small party called the Confederation of Western Regions didn't win any seats, it had a surprisingly good showing in several ridings. It was all the more impressive because at the time, the party was only six months old. The party believed that any government dominated by Eastern Canada could not be fair to the interests of the West. Eventually, branches of the COR sprang up in other provinces too. One of them was New Brunswick, where the provincial COR party became the official opposition between 1991 and 1995. Federally, the party was dissolved in 1988.
Quebec has also had its share of regional parties. In 1979 it was the Union Populaire, a party that advocated separatism for Quebec. The Union Populaire ran candidates in just two federal elections: 1979 and 1980. In both cases, it failed to elect a single member. By 1984, the Parti Nationaliste du Québec superseded the UP, but fared no better. But in 1990 another separatist political party was born. It was comprised of disaffected ex-Tories and went on to have more success than its predecessors. It was called the Bloc Quebecois.
The BQ elected its first member, Gilles Duceppe, in 1990. In the 1993 federal election, it took 59 seats. Under leader Lucien Bouchard, a former Tory cabinet minister, the BQ formed the official opposition until 1997. The Bloc currently holds two seats with M. Duceppe as its leader. The other Quebec based party with two members is the Strength in Democracy party.
The Green Party was founded in 1983. Five years later, in the 1988 election campaign, critics were skeptical. After all, its founders were sleeping in tents in the woods. At the moment the Greens, led by Elizabeth May, have three seats in the house and are running candidates in all federal ridings.
Sometimes parties are formed with a very particular narrow mandate. That's the case with the Marijuana Party. Its only cause is legalizing cannabis, and in all other concerns candidates are free to take their own positions. The Marijuana Party was formed in 2000. The Marijuana Party is a registered political party in the 2015 election, although it has never elected a member of Parliament.
The Rhinoceros Party has had some of the most amusing and outlandish platforms in Canadian history. Founded in 1963, the Rhinos have made many interesting promises: to repeal the law of gravity, tear down the Rockies so Albertans can see the Pacific sunset and change Canada's currency to bubble gum so it can be inflated and deflated at will. Richard the Troll was the Western Caucus Chairman of the party in 1988. He also ran as Richard the Potato in the Vancouver mayoral race that year. Perhaps surprisingly, he was not elected. This election the Rhinos are promising to nationalize Tim Hortons.
"We have no opinions on unions whatsoever. We cannot even deal with the idea of work." - Richard the Troll, Rhinoceros Party of Canada
Doug Henning was a successful Winnipeg-born magician and illusionist. In 1993 he was also a candidate for the Natural Law Party. It was the political wing of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's program of transcendental meditation. In the 1993 Federal election Henning ran and finished sixth out of ten candidates beating out the Greens, the Marxist-Leninists, the Abolitionists, and an Independent. The Natural Law Party also ran candidates in the 1997 and 2000 elections.The party was voluntarily de-registered with Elections Canada in 2004.
Whichever party or candidate you support in the upcoming federal election, please remember to vote on October 19.