WESTERN PRODUCER — There won’t be any Maverick Party candidates on federal ballots this election after Elections Canada de-registered the western-based party.
Leader Colin Krieger, in a March 1 message to supporters, blamed Elections Canada processes for its decision to de-register the party a day earlier. He said the party had received notice at the end of January.
“Since the party was formed we have been dealing with a considerable amount of bureaucracy and red tape from Elections Canada. This has included submitting audited financials every year which has been costing up to $15,000 a filing,” the message said.
It is more difficult to find approved auditors and the price has gone up. Maverick missed a Dec. 3 filing date and believed it had an extension until the end of March but “it appears to have been a miscommunication.”
Krieger said the party would take a pause, regroup and watch the outcome of the April 28 vote.
“Even if we were still fully registered we would not have had the resources to effectively run candidates in this election,” he said.
Members’ activity has steadily declined he said as even Maverick’s staunchest supporters recognized that removing the Liberals from power will only be done by the Conservatives.
“This has not left a lot of room for the Maverick message.”
Krieger said that message will need to be heard again because he suspects Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre will fail western voters and cater to the east in order to stay in power.
“At that time we will rise up to say it loudly,” he said.
The party launched in June 2020 to gain autonomy for the west by eliminating federal overreach and focusing on western priorities. It did not advocate separation.
In the last general election the party ran 29 candidates: 19 in Alberta, seven in Saskatchewan, two in British Columbia and one in Manitoba. They earned a total of 35,178 votes.
There are 16 registered parties eligible to nominate candidates this time. Nominations must be filed by 2 p.m. 21 days of the voting date.
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