Who are the Third Parties?

A look at some potential underdogs in the B.C. election

The 41st B.C. general election is scheduled for May 9, and although the Liberals and NDP currently dominate the legislature, there will be 24 other political parties vying for a slice of the pie. These “third parties” have an opportunity to win seats in the election and help form the provincial government, and may even hold the balance of power between the larger parties. Take some time to familiarize yourself with them before you vote.

The Green Party

“In British Columbia we have, I would argue, three political parties,” says Andrew Weaver, leader of the B.C. Green Party. “We have the B.C. Liberals, who I would argue are the party for big corporations, and we have the B.C. NDP, who are the party for big labour.”

“And then we have the B.C. Greens, which I would argue are the party that puts people first. It’s a party that puts people and small business, the engine of our economy, and the voters of B.C. first and foremost.”

The B.C. Greens has existed for over 30 years and is the only third party to have an MLA, making them the most prominent of the third parties.

The Christian Heritage Party

“The Christian Heritage Party of B.C. has been around since 2010. We ran in 2013 with two candidates. I was one of them,” says Rod Taylor, interim leader of The CHP-BC. “We are basically a party that is pro-life, pro-family, pro-freedom. We believe in a balanced-budget approach to provincial taxation.”

“We think the housing crisis in the lower mainland, particularly, is way out of control, and if people can’t afford to live here, then how are they going to contribute? We would restrict the purchase of housing to those who live in Canada.”

The CHP-BC has endured some internal disputes after a Leadership election in 2011. Several members left to join the Individual Rights Party of British Columbia.

Your Political Party

“We are a growing political party trying to give B.C. voters a better option,” says James Filippeli, leader of Your Political Party of B.C. “We’re focused on bringing a completely transparent government to British Columbia and using evidence-based decision making instead of governing based on ideology.”

“We’re not talking about changing what is spent, we’re talking about how government is done completely,” says Filippeli. “Complete transparency, letting everyone see where every dollar is spent, all contracts completely public so you can see word-for-word what the government has agreed to, and then creating a website, giving every British Columbian a secure log-in, letting them log-in and give feedback to the government.”

YPP nominated one candidate in 2005 and two in 2009.

The People’s Party

“We have seen both NDP and B.C. Liberals missing [out] on a lot of important issues in British Columbia. So we think there’s room for smaller political parties to have a say in the issues concerned,” says Vikram Bajwa, leader of the British Columbia People’s Party.

“As we have seen the past couple of years, B.C. Liberals they have exploited all the election laws, ethics laws, and Premier Christy has been lying all along. Of course, she lied about the LNG, now she’s lying about the pipeline… They have messed up a lot of issues here. She runs British Columbia like a characteristic Mr. Trump.”