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Atlantica Party

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Atlantica Party
Defunct provincial party
LeaderKyle Woodbury
Founded2006
RegisteredMarch 8, 2010 (original)
June 28, 2016 (relaunch)
DissolvedJune 5, 2012 (original)
April 30, 2024 (relaunch)
Headquarters36 Heritage Drive
Antigonish, Nova Scotia
B2G 2T6
Membership (2021)100-200[1]
Ideology
Colours   Blue and white
Seats in House of Assembly
0 / 55
Website
Official website

The Atlantica Party was a political party in the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. The party supported policies that are based on classical liberal principles such as laissez-faire "free market" economics, freedom of business, and freedom of the individual. The party also sought to increase citizen participation in all levels of government with additional oversight of current government structure.[2]

History

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The Atlantica Party was originally founded in 2006.[3] It was organized by Jonathan Dean in 2009.[4] It first registered as a political party on March 8, 2010.[5] It contested the 2010 Nova Scotia provincial by-elections in Glace Bay and Yarmouth, finishing a distant last place in both ridings. The party also ran in the Cape Breton North by-election in 2011, where they were also unsuccessful. The first iteration of the party was de-registered on June 5, 2012.[6]

The Atlantica Party was re-registered as a political party by Elections Nova Scotia on June 28, 2016.[7] Its first contested election was the 2017 provincial election. The party ran 15 candidates then and received a total of 1,632 votes, 0.4% of the provincial total.[8]

On January 8, 2018, inaugural party leader Jonathan Dean announced his resignation from the party.[9] Ryan Smyth was named as interim leader of the party on January 16, 2018; however, he took over as interim leader on January 7, 2018, the effective date of Dean's resignation.[10]

On June 20, 2018, Chief Electoral Officer of Elections Nova Scotia, Richard Temporale, suspended the party for breaches of sections 216(3)(a) and 216(3)(b) respectively due to an illegal loan made by former leader, Jonathan Dean.[11] On July 31, Mr. Dean entered into a compliance agreement with Elections Nova Scotia.[12] The party entered into its own compliance agreement with Elections Nova Scotia on August 7, 2018.[13] The party was reinstated by Elections Nova Scotia on August 16, 2018.[14]

Ryan Smyth resigned as interim leader on April 18, 2019; subsequently, Thomas Bethell was elected as the new interim leader by the party on April 23, 2019. Under Bethell, the Atlantica Party contested three by-elections to the 63rd General Assembly of Nova Scotia. On June 18, 2019, David Boyd received 43 votes, 0.7% of the total vote in the riding of Sackville-Cobequid. On September 3, 2019, interim leader, Thomas Bethell received 28 votes, 0.4% of the total vote in the riding of Northside-Westmount.[15] On March 10, 2020, Matthew Rushton received 55 votes, 1.0% of the total in the electoral district of Truro-Bible Hill-Millbrook-Salmon River.[16]

Bethell resigned as leader March 26, 2020, and Smyth returned as interim leader on March 29, 2020.

On August 31, 2020, the Halifax Examiner reported that Jonathan Dean was once again leader. Bousquet noted that he believed Dean leaked the announcement of his own return.[17] On November 20, 2020, the party finally issued an announcement that Mr. Dean had returned as leader, nearly three months after he was appointed by the executive without any consultation with the party's membership.[18] On November 26, 2020, Mr. Dean gave his first interview in nearly three years on The Rick Howe Show. Dean blamed his dismissal from the party on a former executive that had deviated, in Dean's words, from the party's original "big ideas". He also touted the party's "highest polling numbers ever" in the 2017 election; the only general election that the party has ever run in. Mr. Howe correctly noted that the party finished in last place in all fifteen electoral districts in which it ran in that election. When questioned about his appointment as leader, Dean falsely affirmed that he was "elected" by a "unanimous party vote", offering no evidence to substantiate this unfounded claim.[19]

The party did not win any seats in the 2021 provincial election.[20]

On April 17, 2023, Kyle Woodbury, a former election readiness staffer for the Conservative Party of Canada was named as the new party leader.[21] The move was announced on July 4, 2023.[22][23]

On April 30, 2024, the party was voluntarily deregistered.[24] The party cited a shortage of volunteers as the reason for the deregistration.[25]

Party leaders

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  • Jonathan Geoffrey Dean (June 26, 2016 – January 7, 2018)
  • Jeffrey Ryan Smyth (interim) (January 7, 2018 – April 18, 2019)
  • Thomas James Bethell (interim) (April 23, 2019 – March 26, 2020)
  • Jeffrey Ryan Smyth (interim) (March 29, 2020 – c. August 31, 2020)
  • Jonathan Geoffrey Dean (c. August 31, 2020 – April 2023)
  • Kyle Woodbury (April 17, 2023 – April 30, 2024)

Election results

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Election Leader Candidates Votes % Seats Place Parliamentary position
2017 Jonathan Dean
15 / 51
 1,632 0.4
0 / 51
 Steady 5th Extra-parliamentary
2021
15 / 55
 1,023 0.2
0 / 55
 Steady 5th Extra-parliamentary

References

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  1. ^ "Atlantica Party says it offers alternative to 'same old, same old' in N.S. politics". Cbc.ca. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
  2. ^ "Platform, Policies, and Principles". Atlantica Party. 2021. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
  3. ^ "Atlantica Party offers new voice to N.S. voters". CBC News. March 11, 2010. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  4. ^ McKie, Bronwen (December 8, 2016). "Atlantica Party: Nova Scotia's fifth registered political party". The Signal Halifax. University of King's College. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  5. ^ "Registration of The Atlantica Party Association of Nova Scotia Approved" (PDF). Elections Nova Scotia. March 8, 2010. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
  6. ^ "The Atlantica Party Association of Nova Scotia Deregistered" (PDF). Elections Nova Scotia. June 5, 2012. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
  7. ^ "Chief Electoral Officer approves registration of Atlantic Party Association" (PDF). Elections Nova Scotia. June 28, 2016. Retrieved July 4, 2016.
  8. ^ "Statement of Votes & Statistics: Volume I" (PDF). Elections Nova Scotia. September 21, 2017. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
  9. ^ "Official Release from the Atlantica Party of Nova Scotia Executive". Atlantica Party Association of Nova Scotia. January 7, 2018. Archived from the original on September 23, 2020. Retrieved January 11, 2018.
  10. ^ "New Interim Leader Appointed". Atlantica Party Association of Nova Scotia. January 16, 2018. Archived from the original on September 23, 2020. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
  11. ^ "Atlantica Party Association of Nova Scotia suspended". Elections Nova Scotia. June 20, 2018. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
  12. ^ "Notice of Compliance Agreement – Jonathan Dean". Elections Nova Scotia. July 31, 2018. Archived from the original on July 8, 2019. Retrieved July 4, 2019.
  13. ^ "Notice of Compliance Agreement – Atlantica Party Association of Nova Scotia". Elections Nova Scotia. August 7, 2018. Archived from the original on July 8, 2019. Retrieved July 4, 2019.
  14. ^ "Suspension lifted for Atlantica Party Association of Nova Scotia". Elections Nova Scotia. August 16, 2018. Archived from the original on July 8, 2019. Retrieved July 4, 2019.
  15. ^ "Report of the Chief Electoral Officer on the Proceedings of By-Elections in 2019: Sackville-Cobequid/June 18 Argyle-Barrington, Northside-Westmount, and Sydney River-Mira-Louisbourg/September 3. Statement of Votes, Financial Information" (PDF). Elections Nova Scotia. July 10, 2020. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
  16. ^ "Statement of Official Results" (PDF). Elections Nova Scotia. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
  17. ^ "The road goes on forever, and the Party never ends". Halifax Examiner. August 31, 2020. Retrieved September 28, 2020.
  18. ^ "Jonathan Dean Returns as Leader of NS Atlantica Party". Atlantica Party. November 20, 2020. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
  19. ^ "The Rick Howe Show – Friday, November 27, 2020". Rogers Media. November 28, 2020. Retrieved November 28, 2020.
  20. ^ "Nova Scotia's 3 major parties say 2021 is a momentous year for diversity on their tickets". Cbc.ca. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
  21. ^ Smyth, Ryan (April 17, 2023). "New Leader and Executive Join Atlantica". Atlantica Party. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  22. ^ Gorman, Michael (July 4, 2023). "Atlantica Party announces new leader". CBC. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
  23. ^ Smyth, Ryan (July 4, 2023). "New Atlantica Leader Interview". Atlantica Party. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
  24. ^ "Atlantica Party Association of Nova Scotia Deregistration". Elections Nova Scotia. May 1, 2024. Retrieved May 1, 2024.
  25. ^ Rickard, Kelli (March 15, 2024). "Atlantica Party ending". CJLS-FM. Acadia Broadcasting. Retrieved March 17, 2024.
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