Christian Heritage Party of British Columbia

The Christian Heritage Party of British Columbia (CHP-BC; formerly the British Columbia Heritage Party) is a minor provincial political party in British Columbia, Canada and a provincial wing of the federal Christian Heritage Party of Canada. The party advocates in favour of establishing a constitution to govern the province of British Columbia.

Christian Heritage Party of British Columbia
Active provincial party
AbbreviationCHP-BC
LeaderRod Taylor
PresidentEd Ewald[1]
Founded2010; 14 years ago (2010) (as BCHP)
HeadquartersPO Box 724
Telkwa, British Columbia
V0J 2X0
Ideology
Political positionRight-wing
National affiliationChristian Heritage Party of Canada
Colours  Burgundy
Slogan"Life! Family! And Freedom!"
Seats in the Legislative Assembly
0 / 93
Website
www.chpbc.ca

History

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The party registered with Elections BC in September 2010 as the BC Heritage Party. A leadership election was held in 2011 between Wilf Hanni[2] and Mischa Popoff,[3] in which Hanni was re-confirmed as leader. Following internal party disputes, several members left to join the Individual Rights Party of British Columbia, including Mischa Popoff who became that party's leader.

In September 2011, members of the BC Heritage Party voted in favour of seeking to become a provincial wing of the Christian Heritage Party of Canada. The federal Christian Heritage Party agreed and in March 2012 the BC Heritage Party became the Christian Heritage Party of British Columbia.[4]

Hanni stepped down in 2013 due to family health issues and Rod Taylor became the interim leader.

It nominated five candidates in the 2017 provincial election, none of whom was elected.[5]

Laura-Lynn Tyler Thompson was elected as the party's leader on September 15, 2020.[6][7] Thompson previously ran as a candidate for the People's Party of Canada in the 2019 Burnaby South federal by-election.

During the 2020 provincial election, the party nominated five candidates again, but this time with their new leader, Laura-Lynn Tyler Thompson. She ran in the Abbotsford South riding, and had the most votes out of all the CHP-BC candidates, with 1,439. She had a vote share of 9.20%. Rod Taylor, the National Leader of CHP Canada, ran in Stikine. As a result, he got 755 votes, and a 12.68% vote share, the highest out of all five CHP-BC candidates. None of them got elected.[8]

In early 2022, Laura-Lynn Tyler Thompson stepped down as leader and Rod Taylor was once again the interim leader.[9] During the annual general meeting on October 21, 2023, Taylor was unanimously affirmed as leader.[10]

Policies

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The party was founded as the British Columbia Heritage Party with the stated objective "to restore and preserve our Great Canadian heritage, granted by our Creator, which is the foundation of our democratic system of government, in order to bring effective and accountable government to British Columbia".[11] Party leader Wilf Hanni stated that the first priority in a government controlled by the BC Heritage Party would be to implement a six-point plan for democratic reforms, including preferential voting to replace the existing first-past-the-post voting, free votes, holding more referendums, making it easier to recall elected officials and implement citizens initiatives.[12][13] Their second priority would be to review the tax structure and replace the taxation system so that the government is funded solely through a single rate income tax or a single rate consumption tax (decided in a referendum).[12][13] The party plans to introduce "made-in-BC" constitution, with the framework drafted by the party but revised by a citizens' assembly.[14]

The BC Heritage Party published a document of policy positions in September 2010. The positions outlined in this document include: lowering political donation amounts from corporations, unions, individuals to a maximum of $10,000 per year, halt government attempts to combat global warming, implement zero-based budgeting, encourage industrial development of in the Interior, place an export duty on raw logs, seek to build a bridge from the Lower Mainland to Vancouver Island, prohibit unauthorized access to private property for the purposes of mineral exploration, among other policy points.[13]

Leaders

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# Leader Term start Term end
1 Wilf Hanni 2010 2013
* Rod Taylor (interim) 2013 2020
2 Laura-Lynn Tyler Thompson 2020 2022
* Rod Taylor (interim) 2022 2023
3 Rod Taylor 2023 incumbent

Results

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Election Leader Candidates run Seats won Votes Vote share Seat change Position Status
2013 Wilf Hanni
2 / 85
0 / 85
828 0.05%   0   11th No seats
2017 Rod Taylor
5 / 87
0 / 87
  3,398   0.17%   0   7th No seats
2020 Laura-Lynn Tyler Thompson
5 / 87
0 / 87
  3,895   0.21%   0   7th No seats
2024 Rod Taylor
2 / 93
0 / 93
  361   0.02   0   7th No seats

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Board Members". Christian Heritage Party of BC. Archived from the original on September 1, 2023. Retrieved September 1, 2023.
  2. ^ "Financing Report - Leadership Contestant: Wilf Hanni" (PDF). Elections BC. 2011. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 27, 2014. Retrieved January 16, 2012.
  3. ^ "Financing Report - Leadership Contestant: Mischa Popoff" (PDF). Elections BC. 2011. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved January 16, 2012.
  4. ^ McKeen, Leah A. D. (2015). Canadian Christian nationalism?: The religiosity and politics of the Christian Heritage Party of Canada (PhD dissertation). Wilfrid Laurier University. Paper 1740. Archived from the original on January 25, 2016. Retrieved September 2, 2015.
  5. ^ Hunter, Justine (May 10, 2017). "BC Liberals cut to minority with Greens holding balance of power". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
  6. ^ "Laura-Lynn Tyler Thompson Named New CHP-BC Leader". Christian Heritage Party of BC. September 15, 2020. Archived from the original on October 5, 2020. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
  7. ^ Lypka, Ben (September 15, 2020). "Laura-Lynn Tyler Thompson named new leader of Christian Heritage Party of BC". Abbotsford News. Archived from the original on October 1, 2020. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
  8. ^ Schmunk, Rhianna (October 24, 2020). "B.C. NDP will form decisive majority government, CBC News projects". CBC News. Archived from the original on March 9, 2021. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  9. ^ "CHPBC Leadership Change". Christian Heritage Party of BC. Archived from the original on July 24, 2023. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
  10. ^ "CHP-BC Members Unanimously Affirm Leader and Board at AGM in Smithers". Christian Heritage Party of BC. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
  11. ^ "Mission Statement and Statement of Principles". BC Heritage Party. 2010. Archived from the original on February 13, 2013. Retrieved January 16, 2012.
  12. ^ a b Warner, Gerry (September 27, 2010). "Hanni's back, as BC Heritage Party chief". Daily Townsman. Cranbrook, British Columbia. p. 2. Retrieved January 16, 2012.[permanent dead link]
  13. ^ a b c "Statement of the Policies of the BC Heritage Party" (PDF). BC Heritage Party. September 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 28, 2010. Retrieved January 16, 2012.
  14. ^ Warner, Gerry (December 29, 2010). "B.C. needs its own constitution, Hanni says". Daily Townsman. Cranbrook, British Columbia. p. 2. Archived from the original on July 28, 2012. Retrieved January 16, 2012.
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