A candidate has been named for the Maverick Party in the Foothills.
Joshua Wylie is representing the newly-formed Maverick Party in the Foothills Riding for the next federal election.
He said the party, and his interest in running for a federal seat, were born out of frustration with the Conservative Party.
“They’ve turned their backs on Albertans,” said Wylie, who lives in the Millarville area.
“I’ve voted Conservative my whole life, but mostly because there was a lack of options. I think the Maverick Party resolves that.”
He said rumours are flying about a potential election in the fall of 2021, and while the timeline is short the party will be ready. Candidates are getting out over the summer to introduce the Mavericks to ridings and engage with the public.
The Maverick Party intends to only run in western Canada, he said.
“So you get true western representation, unconflicted,” said Wylie. “There’s no pandering to the central Canadian voters.”
He said the disadvantage in the west is a high voter base in Québec and Ontario, which together hold 59 per cent of the federal seats.
Besides winning seats in the House of Commons, there are further objectives for the Maverick Party, he said.
“We have what’s called a twin track approach, which is constitutional change and in the absence of that we would begin the long road to independence,” said Wylie. “This model may sound familiar – it’s not anything new, the template has been proven with the Bloc Québécois.”
Constitutional changes being sought include scrapping the existing equalization formula and amending representation in the House and in the Senate.
“We have six senators for the 4.4 million Albertans and by comparison the Maritimes has 24 senators for 1.8 million people,” said Wylie. “They have half the people but four times as many senators.”
The constitution divides the country into four areas – Ontario, Québec, the Maritimes, and western Canada – each with 24 seats in the Senate. Newfoundland and Labrador is represented by six senators.
Wylie said that puts Alberta and western Canada at a disadvantage.
“No one should really be surprised at the outcome and the disadvantages we’re subject to here in the west,” he said.
Additionally, the 14-year veteran of the oil industry said the party is set on getting pipelines and other energy initiatives back on the table, improving market access and opening up mineral exploration.
In the coming months, he said the goal will be to get the Maverick Party to be well-known with meet-and-greet style events.
As a new party, it’s about garnering awareness, and Wylie said he’s confident people will be receptive to his message.
“We need to go from unknown to known – that is our biggest hurdle,” said Wylie. “But in my opinion, it’s easier to go from unknown to known than the hurdle the Conservatives are up against, which is unliked to liked.”
Since its establishment after electoral boundaries were redistributed in advance of the 2015 election, the Foothills electoral district has voted overwhelmingly for the Conservative Party with MP John Barlow earning 75.7 per cent of the vote in 2015 and 82.1 per cent in 2019.
