Support for a potential Western Canada Party growing: poll

CALGARY (660 NEWS) – It happened once and it might happen again.

The idea of a new political party for western Canada is growing in support, according to new numbers from Angus Reid.

According to the survey, 35 per cent of those polled would vote for a Western Canada Party if it was an option in the next election.

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Research Associate with Angus Reid Ian Holliday said the idea of a new party is particularly popular with those who voted for the old Reform Party.

“They’ve seen this before and seen a good deal of frustration in the four westernmost provinces translate into political action at the federal level.”

The Reform Party of Canada disbanded in 2000 when it became the Canadian Alliance Party. That later merged with the Progressive Conservatives to become the Conservative Party of Canada.

Now while the concept of a new western party is appealing to voters, Holliday notes that it likely won’t happen anytime soon.

“Even if there was a Western Canada Party on the ballot in an election that happened tomorrow, I don’t think we would expect to see quite this level of support. Even Reform took a few elections before it was able to become a force in electoral politics in the four western provinces.”

Much like the Bloc Quebecois–which was created to cater to Quebec’s political agenda–the idea of separation (especially Alberta) came through in this poll. But don’t expect a referendum anytime soon.

“About three in 10 Canadians say it would never happen and another four in 10 say it’s very unlikely,” said Holliday, “both western and eastern Canadians are, overall, equally likely to say that they feel as though it’s not a real possibility that Alberta would consider separating.”

Those numbers are different for voters specifically in Alberta where around 50 per cent said independence is a possibility.

In Alberta, separation politics is nothing new with the Alberta Independence Party looking at fronting candidates in the 2019 election. The Separation Party of Alberta which was founded in 1999 has re-branded several times and are now under the name of the Freedom Conservative Party.

The Western Independence Party is also active in Saskatchewan with a similar branch in Surrey, under the BC Refederation Party.

 

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