Maverick Party planning to up its game after poor election results
Global News
The interim leader of the Maverick Party, formerly known as Wexit Canada, says it will be making some key changes after a disappointing result in last month's federal election.
The interim leader of the fledgling Maverick Party says it will be making some key changes after a disappointing result in last month’s federal election.
Formerly known as Wexit Canada, the party advocates for the independence of Western Canada or constitutional changes that would benefit the West. It ran 29 candidates in Alberta, Saskatchewan, British Columbia and Manitoba.
It pulled in 1.4 per cent of the vote in Saskatchewan and 1.3 per cent in Alberta but barely raised the needle in B.C., where it picked up 0.1 per cent.
“Things could have turned out better. I’m not going to try and B.S. you,” said interim leader Jay Hill in a recent interview with The Canadian Press.
“There were a number of factors that really produced the results that we saw, the really disappointing results. It is what it is.”
Hill was elected in 1993 for the Reform Party of Canada in the Prince George-Peace River riding in British Columbia and had a long political career as Reform morphed into the Canadian Alliance and ultimately the Conservative Party of Canada. He served as government house leader under former Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
Hill said some of the problems the Mavericks encountered were that few people had heard of the party when the election was called, there was a surging fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, and voters were concerned about vote-splitting and giving Prime Minister Justin Trudeau another mandate.
“The vast majority of Prairie westerners held their noses and voted for Erin O’Toole, even though they now know he’s a Liberal in a Conservative blue suit,” Hill said.