The Canadians′ Choice Party (CCP) is a minor political party based in

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada. The party is led by Bahman Yazdanfar.

History

The Canadians' Choice Party was founded on August 26, 2011 by Bahman Yazdanfar of Toronto. Yazdanfar, who immigrated to Canada from Iran in 1986, ran a small consulting firm for businesses until 2008, when the global economic recession caused him to close. After the failure of his business, Yazdanfar began a talk show on YouTube which interviewed subjects ranging from mainstream local figures to political extremists. In 2015, in response to public outcry over '' Your Ward News'', a local newspaper delivered to households in

The Beaches A beach is a geological formation consisting of loose rock particles along the shoreline of a body of water. Beach, Beaches or beaching may also refer to: Geography Canada * Beaches (federal electoral district), a federal electoral district in ...

that was banned by

Canada Post Canada Post Corporation (, trading as Canada Post (), is a Canadian Crown corporation that functions as the primary postal operator in Canada. Originally known as Royal Mail Canada (the operating name of the Post Office Department of the Can ...

for carrying

anti-Semitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

and

racist Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...

content, Yazdanfar supported the publication, buying advertising in it and decrying the Ontario government's laying of criminal charges against the publication's publisher and editor for hate speech. The party failed to win any seats in the 2022 Ontario general election.

Platform

The party bills itself as a "party of independents" and offers very few barriers for entry. To run as a candidate for the party, a candidate has to: * Show responsibility first to the riding they represent when they become MPP. * Show commitment to stay in the Canadians' Choice Party for the entire mandate once elected. * Not

cross the floor In some parliamentary systems (e.g., in Canada and the United Kingdom), politicians are said to cross the floor if they formally change their political affiliation to a political party different from the one they were initially elected under. I ...

. On its website, the party supports four priorities: * Fiscal responsibility and respect for taxpayers, * Individual freedom and the right to free speech, * Sovereignty and protection of common-law rights, * Transparency and accountability in government. It also calls for the ability to recall elected officials and calls for more referendums.

Controversy and associations with Neo-Nazism

The party's position on unfettered free speech has caused controversy in the 2018 provincial election when several of its candidates were found to be associated with the neo-Nazi movement in Canada. James Sears, who ran in the riding of

Ottawa Centre Ottawa Centre may refer to: *Ottawa Centre (federal electoral district) *Ottawa Centre (provincial electoral district) Ottawa Centre is an urban provincial electoral district (Canada), electoral district in Ontario, Canada that has been represen ...

, is the editor of the far-right newspaper, ''Your Ward News'', and claims to be an adherent of

Nazism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...

. Among the party's other notable candidates were Paul Fromm, a prominent Canadian white supremacist, who ran in Etobicoke Centre in 2018, and Leslie Bory, a Brantford-based

Holocaust denier Denial of the Holocaust is an antisemitic conspiracy theory that asserts that the genocide of Jews by the Nazis is a fabrication or exaggeration. It includes making one or more of the following false claims: *Nazi Germany's "Final Solution" wa ...

and conspiracy theorist convicted of spreading online hate, who ran in Brantford—Brant in both 2018 and 2022.

Electoral results

In the

2011 Ontario general election Eleven or 11 may refer to: *11 (number) * One of the years 11 BC, AD 11, 1911, 2011 Literature * ''Eleven'' (novel), a 2006 novel by British author David Llewellyn *''Eleven'', a 1970 collection of short stories by Patricia Highsmith *''Eleve ...

, the Canadians' Choice Party nominated three candidates for the

Legislative Assembly of Ontario The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA; ) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by the Legislative Assembly are given royal as ...

: In the 2014 election, Yazdanfar and Richardson ran again, this time joined by Dorian Baxter, perennial candidate for the

Progressive Canadian Party The Progressive Canadian Party (PC Party) () was a minor centre-right federal political party in Canada. It was registered with Elections Canada, the government's election agency, on March 29, 2004. Under provisions of the Canada Elections Ac ...

. In the 2018 election, the party ran five candidates:

References

{{Canadian Conservative Parties Provincial political parties in Ontario 2011 establishments in Ontario Political parties established in 2011 Organizations based in Toronto Neo-Nazism in Canada