The Western Independence Party (WIP) was a Canadian political party that advocated the separation from Canada of the western Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba as well as the Yukon and Northwest Territories to form a new country.
The WIP ran 11 candidates in the Canadian federal election of 1988 - one candidate in British Columbia, seven in Alberta, and three in Manitoba (although one of the Manitoba candidates appears to have withdrawn before election day). All the candidates were soundly defeated with none garnering even 1% of the popular vote in any riding.
The party also has or had provincial branches in each of the four provinces. The federal wing of the Western Independence Party was dormant; they have not run any candidates in any federal elections since 1988. The party has been resurrected in April, 2005 at a founding convention in Strathmore, Alberta under the new name "Western Canada Party".
The WIP should not be confused with the Confederation of Regions Party, which sought greater autonomy for western Canada, but not full independence.
Read more about Western Independence Party: Founding, Alberta Independence Party, WIP of Saskatchewan, Party Program
Famous quotes containing the words western, independence and/or party:
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“We must have constantly present in our minds the difference between independence and liberty. Liberty is a right of doing whatever the laws permit, and if a citizen could do what they forbid he would no longer be possessed of liberty.”
—Charles Louis de Secondat Montesquieu (1689–1755)
“If the Soviet Union let another political party come into existence, they would still be a one-party state, because everybody would join the other party.”
—Ronald Reagan (b. 1911)