The Independence Party
Active provincial party
LeaderKatherine Kowalchuk (interim)
PresidentRon Robertson (interim)[1][2]
FoundedJanuary 2001 (2001-01) (first iteration)
2017 (second iteration)
Dissolved2001 (first iteration)
Headquarters4706 51 Street Olds, AB T4H 1E7[3]
Ideology
Seats in Legislature
0 / 87
Website
www.abindependence.com

The Independence Party (TIP), also known as the Alberta Independence Party from 2001 to 2019[4] and the Independence Party of Alberta after 2019,[5] is an Albertan provincial political party.

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. 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. The party had a separatist political platform in the 2019 Alberta general election.[6]

History

The AIP disbanded in 2001, re-formed in 2017 and fielded 63 candidates in the 2019 Alberta general election, winning no seats.[7] Dave Bjorkman became interim party leader from early 2018 until his resignation in July 2019.[8][9] 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.[10] Dave Campbell was elected party leader in the spring of 2020.

In September 2022, street preacher Artur Pawlowski became the leader of the party.[11] He was removed as leader six months later and the party leadership was vacant during the 2023 election.[12][13][14]

On October 3, 2023, Katherine Kowalchuk was named as the interim leader.[15] In the 2023 election, she was the best performing candidate for the party, receiving 4.71% of the vote in Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills.[16]

Election results

Party candidates received a total of 7,521 votes in the 2001 election:[17]

  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.

Election Leader Candidates Votes % Seats +/- Place Position
2001 Cory Morgan
0 / 83
 7,521 0.74%
0 / 83
 No seats
2019 Dave Bjorkman
63 / 87
 13,481 0.72%
0 / 87
 Steady 0 Increase 5th No seats
2023 Vacant
14 / 87
 5,045 0.29%
0 / 87
 Steady 0 Decrease 5th No seats

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Board of Directors". Independence Party of Alberta. Retrieved August 3, 2023.
  2. ↑ "Quarterly Reports - Party - 2023". Elections Alberta. Retrieved August 3, 2023.
  3. ↑ "Registered Political Parties". Elections Alberta. Retrieved July 24, 2023.
  4. ↑ "Parties". Elections Alberta. Retrieved 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.
  5. ↑ Bradley, Jonathan (September 14, 2022). "Pawlowski wins Independence Party of Alberta leadership race". Western Standard. Retrieved October 17, 2022.
  6. ↑ "What We Believe". Alberta Independence Party. April 13, 2019.
  7. ↑ "New Alberta separatist party raises questions about splintering of conservative voters". Toronto Star. March 4, 2019.
  8. ↑ "MEET THE ALBERTA INDEPENDENCE PARTY'S OFFICERS TEAM". albertaindependenceparty.net. Archived from the original on August 3, 2018.
  9. ↑ "Alberta Elections – Parties".
  10. ↑ "Bill 24: Parents, trustees, superintendents fear harm to parent-school relationships". Grandin Media. November 13, 2017.
  11. ↑ Bradley, Jonathan (September 14, 2022). "Pawlowski wins Independence Party of Alberta leadership race". Western Standard. Retrieved October 17, 2022.
  12. ↑ Toy, Adam (March 29, 2023). "Pawlowski out as Independence Party leader in Alberta". Global News. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  13. ↑ "We appreciate your patience as we push forward toward having representation in our legislature". Facebook. The Independence Party. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  14. ↑ Griwkowsky, Catherine (May 1, 2023). "What Alberta's third parties are offering in election 2023". Politics Today. Retrieved October 13, 2023.
  15. ↑ "After much discussion and deliberation on how to move forward strategically and intelligently, the board of directors has appointed an interim leader". Facebook. Independence Party of Alberta. October 3, 2023. Retrieved October 3, 2023.
  16. ↑ "76 - Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills". officialresults.elections.ab.ca. Elections Alberta. Retrieved June 10, 2023.
  17. ↑ "2001 General Election". Elections Alberta. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
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