Following the merger of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada and the Canadian Alliance into the new Conservative Party of Canada, the Progressive Canadian Party was formed by former Progressive Conservatives who opposed the merger. Many of these are Red Tories, i.e., more centrist Progressive Conservatives. One of the organizers, Joe Hueglin, is a former Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) from Niagara Falls, Ontario.
In announcing the new party, Hueglin stated that the party had about a dozen potential candidates and a mailing list of 330 names. The party nominated 16 candidates for the 2004 general election, mostly in southern Ontario and Nova Scotia. They generally had little success. In Newmarket-Aurora, the Rev. Dorian Baxter stood for the party.
Founding party leader Ernie Schreiber resigned in 2005 because of a heart condition. The party appointed Tracy Parsons as his successor. The party has begun nominating candidates for the 2006 federal election. Former Progressive Conservative cabinet minister and leadership candidate Heward Grafftey has agreed to stand as a candidate for the Party when an election is called.
The party is planning a national convention in 2005 to select a leader and to develop policies. It has also established the “Macdonald-Cartier PC Fund” to raise money for the party, under the direction of the Hon. Sinclair Stevens, who was a cabinet minister in the Progressive Conservative government of Brian Mulroney.
On November 17, 2005, Stevens’ lawsuit to force Chief Electoral Officer Jenn-Pierre Kingsley to rescind recognition of the merger of the Progressive Conservative Party with the Canadian Alliance was rejected by the Federal Court of Appeal. The court did rule, however, that Kingsley erred in not waiting 30 days to register the merger. Stevens is considering appealing the uling to the Supreme Court of Canada.
Platform and goals
The new PC Party aims to be the successor to the former Progressive Conservative Party. No sitting MPs or Senators have joined, and no prominent figures such as Joe Clark are associated with this new party. It is unknown what David Orchard’s view on the new party is. Orchard was a fervent opponent to the merger of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada and the Canadian Alliance.
The party adopted the last policy platform of the Progressive Conservative party until it is able to develop its own platform. The new party’s official logo and initials are similar to that of the old party, apparently in an effort to capitalize on the well known PC name.