Atlantica Party

Last updated

Atlantica Party
Defunct provincial party
Leader Kyle Woodbury
FounderJonathan Dean
Founded2005
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]

Contents

History

The Atlantica Party was originally founded in 2005 as a political action group. [3] It was organized as a political party by Jonathan Dean in 2009. [4] That year, Dean also ran as an independent in the provincial election. [5]

It first officially registered as a political party with Elections Nova Scotia on March 8, 2010. [6] 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. [7]

After being de-registered, the party remained active and fielded 3 candidates who ran as independents in the 2013 election, including Dean. [8]

The Atlantica Party was re-registered as a political party by Elections Nova Scotia on June 28, 2016. [9] 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. [10]

On January 2, 2018, inaugural party leader Jonathan Dean announced his resignation from the party. 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. [11]

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. [12] On July 31, Mr. Dean entered into a compliance agreement with Elections Nova Scotia. [13] The party entered into its own compliance agreement with Elections Nova Scotia on August 7, 2018. [14] The party was reinstated by Elections Nova Scotia on August 16, 2018. [15]

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. [16] 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. [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]

The party did not win any seats in the 2021 provincial election. [19]

On April 17, 2023, Kyle Woodbury, a former election readiness staffer for the Conservative Party of Canada was named as the new party leader. [20] The move was announced on July 4, 2023. [21]

On April 30, 2024, the party was voluntarily deregistered. [22] [23] The party cited a shortage of volunteers as the reason for the deregistration. [24]

Party leaders

Election results

ElectionLeaderCandidatesVotes%SeatsPlaceParliamentary position
2017 Jonathan Dean
15 / 51
1,6320.4
0 / 51
Steady2.svg 5thExtra-parliamentary
2021
15 / 55
1,0230.2
0 / 55
Steady2.svg 5thExtra-parliamentary

By-elections

By-electionDateCandidateVotes%Place
Glace Bay June 22, 2010Dan Wilson560.77%5/5
Yarmouth Jonathan Dean190.24%6/6
Cape Breton North June 21, 2011720.99%4/4
Sackville-Cobequid June 18, 2019David F. Boyd430.68%5/5
Northside-Westmount September 3, 2019Thomas Bethell280.36%7/7
Truro-Bible Hill-Millbrook-Salmon River March 10, 2020Matthew Rushton550.97%5/5

References

  1. "Atlantica Party says it offers alternative to 'same old, same old' in N.S. politics". CBC News . Nova Scotia: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation . Retrieved December 19, 2021.
  2. "Platform, Policies, and Principles". Atlantica Party. 2021. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
  3. Dingwell, Rebecca (May 25, 2017). "Who the hell are the Atlantica party?". The Coast . Overstory Media Group. Retrieved June 11, 2025.
  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. "Atlantica Party offers new voice to N.S. voters". CBC News . Nova Scotia: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. March 11, 2010. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  6. "Registration of The Atlantica Party Association of Nova Scotia Approved" (PDF). Elections Nova Scotia. March 8, 2010. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
  7. "The Atlantica Party Association of Nova Scotia Deregistered" (PDF). Elections Nova Scotia. June 5, 2012. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
  8. "Atlantica Party fields 3 candidates". CBC News . Nova Scotia: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. September 26, 2013. Retrieved June 11, 2025.
  9. "Chief Electoral Officer approves registration of Atlantic Party Association" (PDF). Elections Nova Scotia. June 28, 2016. Retrieved July 4, 2016.
  10. "Statement of Votes & Statistics: Volume I" (PDF). Elections Nova Scotia. September 21, 2017. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
  11. "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.
  12. "Atlantica Party Association of Nova Scotia suspended". Elections Nova Scotia. June 20, 2018. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
  13. "Notice of Compliance Agreement – Jonathan Dean". Elections Nova Scotia. July 31, 2018. Archived from the original on July 8, 2019. Retrieved July 4, 2019.
  14. "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.
  15. "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.
  16. "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.
  17. "Statement of Official Results" (PDF). Elections Nova Scotia. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
  18. "Jonathan Dean Returns as Leader of NS Atlantica Party". Atlantica Party. November 20, 2020. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
  19. "Nova Scotia's 3 major parties say 2021 is a momentous year for diversity on their tickets". CBC News . Nova Scotia: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation . Retrieved December 19, 2021.
  20. Smyth, Ryan (April 17, 2023). "New Leader and Executive Join Atlantica". Atlantica Party. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  21. Gorman, Michael (July 4, 2023). "Atlantica Party announces new leader". CBC News . Nova Scotia: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation . Retrieved July 6, 2023.
  22. "Atlantica Party no longer a political party in Nova Scotia". CityNews . Halifax, NS: Rogers Sports & Media. May 1, 2024. Retrieved August 12, 2025.
  23. "Atlantica Party Association of Nova Scotia Deregistration". Elections Nova Scotia . May 1, 2024. Retrieved May 1, 2024.
  24. Rickard, Kelli (March 15, 2024). "Atlantica Party ending". CJLS-FM . Acadia Broadcasting . Retrieved March 17, 2024.

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