Free Party Canada (French: Parti Libre Canada) was a minor federal political party in Canada that also existed provincially in Quebec as a provincial and municipal party. It was led by Michel Leclerc, advocates for direct democracy and lower taxes, and promotes vaccine hesitancy.
Free Party Canada Parti Libre Canada | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leader | Michel Leclerc |
| Registered | 2016 (provincial) September 30, 2020 (federal) |
| Dissolved | December 31, 2024 |
| Headquarters | 27A Hochar Avenue Saint-Sauveur, Quebec J0R 1R4[1] |
| Ideology | Direct democracy Vaccine hesitancy |
| Colours | Gold |
| Website | |
| partilibrecanada | |
History
In 2016, the party registered provincially in Quebec as Parti libre Saint-Sauveur ("Free Party Saint-Sauveur") and ran in local elections in Saint-Sauveur, as well as in the 2017 by-election for Gouin.[2][3][4][5] Its eight candidates in the 2018 Quebec general election received a total of 1,618 votes.[6] Registered federally on September 30, 2020,[7] its first federal campaign was for the 2020 Toronto Centre federal by-election.[8]
2021 election
The party ran 59 candidates in the 2021 Canadian federal election, most of them in Quebec or in Francophone areas of New Brunswick and Ontario,[9] garnering over 47,000 votes.[10] Its platform attracted notice for its opposition to mandated COVID vaccination[11][12][13][14][15][16] and vaccination passports,[17] and some candidates had been active in organising events opposed to the pandemic health measures.[18][19] The party also called for the introduction of a direct democracy and lower taxes.[20][21][22][23] Other candidates raised issues of housing affordability, transport and local accountability to electors.[9][24][25] Party leader Michel Leclerc ran in Laurentides—Labelle, where he had been an independent candidate in the 2019 Canadian federal election.[26] In an interview with a TVA comedian at an anti-vaccination rally, Leclerc claimed that viruses were humans, that vaccinations decreased life expectancy, and (claiming to be trained as an astronaut) denied the Moon landing.[27]
Deregistration
After failing to comply with financial reporting obligations in the Canada Elections Act in 2023, Free Party Canada was deregistered by Elections Canada, effective December 31, 2024.[28]
Election results
Federal
| Election | Leader | Candidates | Votes | % of votes | % where running | Seats won | +/− | Rank | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Michel Leclerc | 59 / 338 |
47,254 | 0.28% | 1.46 | 0 / 338 |
7th | No seats |
Provincial
| Election | Leader | Candidates | Votes | % | Seats won | +/− | Rank | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Michel Leclerc | 8 / 125 |
1,678 | 0.04% | 0 / 125 |
12th | No seats |
Municipal (Saint-Sauveur)
References
Wikiwand in your browser!
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.
