The is a
Political Party that advocates the
Secession of
Alberta from
Canada . Its interim leader is
Bruce Hutton .
The party took over the rights of the inactive
Alberta First Party in June 2004 and changed the party name. The party fielded 12 candidates in the
Provincial Election , held on
November 22 ,
2004 . These candidates won a total of 4,680 votes, or 0.5% of the popular vote in the province. Here are the candidates, their ridings, votes and percentages:
- Calgary-Fort , Leo Ollenberger, 212 (2.7%)
- Calgary-Shaw , Daniel Doher, 171 (1.6%)
- Airdrie-Chestermere , Bob Lefurgey, 394 (3.3%)
- Drumheller-Stettler , David Carnegie, 465 (4.5%)
- Highwood , Corey Morgan, 299 (2.8%)
- Little Bow , Grant Shaw, 432 (4.8%)
- Livingstone-Macleod , Jim Walker, 339 (3.4%)
- Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills , Brian Vasseur, 746 (6.1%)
- Red Deer-South , Judy Mine, 261 (2.2%)
- Rocky Mountain House , Bruce Hutton, 505 (4.9%)
- Strathcona , Roberta McDonald, 297 (2.1%)
- Strathmore-Brooks , Jay Kolody, 559 (6.1%)
The Separation Party is not the first separatist party to make a foray into Albertan politics. The
Western Canada Concept achieved modest success in the early
1980s , even winning a
By-election in
1982 . The WCC's popularity declined before the end of the decade. The
Alberta Independence Party ran 14 candidates in the
2001 General Election , but these candidates were designated as independents because the party had not been registered with Elections Alberta. The AIP eventually disbanded.
The Separation Party has informal ties with the
Western Independence Party Of Saskatchewan and its website includes links to the website of that party. The Separation Party is not affiliated to the
Western Canada Concept Party Of British Columbia or the
British Columbia -based
Western Block Party and has distanced itself from
Doug Christie , the controversial leader of those parties.
Serious disagreements within the party membership led to a showdown at a party meeting on October 29, 2005. One group, led by Alan Clark, voted out the President and the Board of Directors, who refused to recognize the vote, claiming that it was unconstitutional. As a result, the party runs the risk of being de-registered by the province. A party convention has been called for March 25, 2006 to resolve these issues.
