Independence Party of Alberta explained

The Independence Party
Subheader:Active provincial party
Leader:Vacant
President:Ron Robertson[1]
Founder:Cory Morgan
Foundation: (first iteration)
2017 (second iteration)
Dissolution:2001 (first iteration)
Headquarters:4706 51 Street Olds, AB T4H 1E7
Seats1 Title:Seats in the House of Commons
Seats2 Title:Seats in the Senate
Seats3 Title:Seats in Legislature
Country:Canada
State:Alberta
Parties Dab1:List of political parties in Alberta
Elections Dab1:List of Alberta general elections

The Independence Party (TIP), also known as the Alberta Independence Party from 2001 to 2019[2] and the Independence Party of Alberta after 2019,[3] is an Albertan provincial political party.

History

First Iteration

The Alberta Independence Party was founded in 2000 by Cory Morgan,[4] [5] who served as the first leader of the party.[6] The party held its founding convention in January 2001, ahead of the general election.[7]

The party was originally dedicated to increasing the autonomy of Alberta within the Canadian confederation, partly as a response to the failure of the Canadian Alliance to gain traction outside Western Canada in the 2000 Canadian election.[8]

One of the party's first challenges was to gather enough signatures to qualify as an official party in Alberta, which it failed to do. In light of this development, its fourteen candidates were forced to stand as independents in the 2001 Alberta general election. All of their candidates were unsuccessful.

In October 2001, at the party's annual general meeting, members voted to make Albertan separation from Canada a primary goal of the party.[9] Ultimately, the party ended up disbanding before the end of that year.[10]

Second Iteration

The Alberta Independence Party re-formed in late 2017 after Dave Bjorkman contacted the original party founder, Cory Morgan, seeking permission to use the party name.[10] [11] Bjorkman became interim party leader in early 2018.[12] Bjorkman opposed Alberta's Bill 24 in November 2017, citing fears that the law would encourage keeping secrets from parents and saying that he supports the LGBT+ community and parental involvement in the Alberta school system.[13]

The AIP officially registered with Elections Alberta as a political party on March 20, 2019.[14] They fielded 63 candidates in the 2019 Alberta general election, winning no seats. After the election, Bjorkman resigned as party leader in July 2019.[15]

On October 29, 2019, the party changed its name to the Independence Party of Alberta[16]

Dave Campbell was elected party leader in the spring of 2020.[17]

On September 12, 2021, Vicky Bayford was voted in as the new leader.[18]

On September 10, 2022, street preacher Artur Pawlowski became the leader of the party, winning a leadership contest.[19] [20] He was removed as leader six months later and the party leadership was vacant during the 2023 election.[21] [22] [23]

On October 3, 2023, lawyer[24] Katherine Kowalchuk was named the interim leader.[25] [26] She was briefly nominated as the Liberal Party of Canada candidate for Calgary Signal Hill in 2015 before withdrawing as the candidate three months before the election.[27] In the 2023 election, she was the best-performing candidate for the party, receiving 4.71% of the vote in Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills.[28] On January 31, 2024, Kowalchuk resigned as interim leader.[29]

Leaders

Term of office!Notes
Cory Morgan20002001
Dave Bjorkman2018July 2019Interim
Dave Campbell20202021
Vicky BayfordSeptember 12, 2021September 10, 2022
Artur PawlowskiSeptember 10, 2022March 28, 2023
Katherine KowalchukOctober 3, 2023January 31, 2024Interim

Election results

Party candidates received a total of 7,521 votes in the 2001 election:[30]

  1. Bradley R. Lang (Calgary-Egmont) 399 (2.90 percent)
  2. Tom Humble (Airdrie-Rocky View) 683 (4.10 percent)
  3. Cory Morgan (Banff-Cochrane) 538 (four percent)
  4. Darren Popik (Calgary Shaw) 151 (0.60 percent)
  5. Douglas R. Chitwood (Lacombe-Stettler) 554 (4.70 percent)
  6. Eileen Walker (Drumheller-Chinook) 819 (8.90 percent)
  7. Ron (Earl) Miller (Dunvegan) 248 (2.8 percent)
  8. Dennis Young (Grande Prairie-Smoky) 380 (4.1 percent)
  9. Jon Koch (Little Bow) 885 (8.3 percent)
  10. Charles Park (Ponoka-Rimbey) 764 (8.1 percent)
  11. Ryan Lamarche (Red Deer-South) 203 (1.6 percent)
  12. Christopher Sutherland (Strathmore-Brooks) 511 (4.5 percent)
  13. Jeff Newland (Wainwright) 868 (eight percent)
  14. Ben Lussier (Wetaskiwin-Camrose) 382 (three percent)

Lussier began his candidacy with an AIP endorsement, which was withdrawn during the campaign.

ElectionLeaderCandidatesVotes%Seats+/-PlacePosition
2001Cory Morgan7,5210.74%
2019Dave Bjorkman13,4810.72% 0 5th
2023Vacant5,0450.29% 0 5th

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Board of Directors . Independence Party of Alberta . 3 August 2023.
  2. Web site: Parties . . April 17, 2020 . The Alberta Independence Party made application to the Chief Electoral Officer to change the party name to "Independence Party of Alberta". The request was received and approved, and the change was made effective October 29, 2019..
  3. Web site: Bradley . Jonathan . Pawlowski wins Independence Party of Alberta leadership race . Western Standard . 14 September 2022 . 17 October 2022.
  4. Web site: MacEachern . Meagan . Another name joins the ballot . Lakeland Today . . 1 April 2019 . 12 April 2024.
  5. Web site: Morgan . Cory . In 2000, at the age of 29 I formed an independence party & led it into the 2001 Alberta election. . . 31 January 2023 . 12 April 2024.
  6. Web site: New separatist party not seen as a threat . . 22 January 2001 . 13 April 2024.
  7. Web site: Separatists form new party in Alberta . . 22 January 2001 . 12 April 2024.
  8. Web site: Separatists gather in Red Deer to form new party . . 20 January 2001 . 12 April 2024.
  9. Web site: New Alberta party pushing for separation . . 23 October 2001 . 12 April 2024.
  10. Web site: New Alberta separatist party raises questions about splintering of conservative voters . Toronto Star. March 4, 2019.
  11. Web site: Morgan . Cory . The Alberta Independence Party. Where to next? . corymorgan.com . 9 August 2019 . 13 April 2024.
  12. Web site: MEET THE ALBERTA INDEPENDENCE PARTY'S OFFICERS TEAM . albertaindependenceparty.net . https://web.archive.org/web/20180803223820/https://albertaindependenceparty.net/who-we-are/ . August 3, 2018.
  13. Web site: Bill 24: Parents, trustees, superintendents fear harm to parent-school relationships . Grandin Media . November 13, 2017.
  14. Web site: Resler . Glen . Elections-Alberta-Annual-Report-2018-19.pdf . . November 2019 . 12 April 2024.
  15. Web site: Alberta Elections – Parties .
  16. Web site: Registered Political Parties . . 24 July 2023.
  17. Web site: Cournoyer . Dave . Paul Hinman is back, again, maybe! Former Wildrose leader to lead new Wildrose separatist party. . Daveberta . 16 July 2020 . 12 April 2024.
  18. Web site: 2021 Leadership Contest - The Independence Party of Alberta . . 12 April 2024.
  19. Web site: 2022 Leadership Contest - The Independence Party of Alberta . . 12 April 2024.
  20. Web site: Bradley . Jonathan . 14 September 2022 . Pawlowski wins Independence Party of Alberta leadership race . 17 October 2022 . Western Standard.
  21. Web site: Toy . Adam . Pawlowski out as Independence Party leader in Alberta . Global News . 29 March 2023 . 11 April 2023.
  22. Web site: We appreciate your patience as we push forward toward having representation in our legislature. . Facebook . The Independence Party . 11 April 2023.
  23. Web site: Griwkowsky . Catherine . What Alberta’s third parties are offering in election 2023 . Politics Today . 1 May 2023 . 13 October 2023.
  24. Web site: Katherine Kowalchuk . Getz Collins and Associates . 24 April 2024.
  25. Web site: Registered Political Parties . . 25 April 2024.
  26. Web site: After much discussion and deliberation on how to live forward strategically and intelligently, the board of directors has appointed an interim leader. . . . 3 October 2023 . 28 April 2024.
  27. Web site: Siekierski . BJ . Calgary Liberal candidate Kowalchuk withdraws . . 16 July 2015 . 24 April 2024.
  28. Web site: 76 - Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills. . June 10, 2023 . officialresults.elections.ab.ca.
  29. Web site: February 2024 Newsletter . Independence Party of Alberta . 28 April 2024.
  30. Web site: 2001 General Election . Elections Alberta. April 13, 2019.

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