Christian Heritage Party Of Canada
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The Christian Heritage Party of Canada (french: Parti de l'héritage chrétien du Canada), also referred to as CHP Canada, is a
minor Minor may refer to: * Minor (law), a person under the age of certain legal activities. ** A person who has not reached the age of majority * Academic minor, a secondary field of study in undergraduate education Music theory *Minor chord ** Barb ...
social conservative Social conservatism is a political philosophy and variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional power structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social instituti ...
and
Christian right The Christian right, or the religious right, are Christian political factions characterized by their strong support of socially conservative and traditionalist policies. Christian conservatives seek to influence politics and public policy with t ...
federal political party in Canada; it was founded in 1987, the brainchild of two couples in British Columbia, namely Bill and
Heather Stilwell Heather Stilwell (January 26, 1944 – December 4, 2010) was a Canadian political activist and former school trustee in Surrey, British Columbia. A staunch Roman Catholic, she was well known for her opinions opposing homosexuality, abortion, and ...
who were Roman Catholics and Ed Vanwoudenberg and his wife, Reformed Protestants. CHP advocates for Canada to be governed according to Christian principles and ethics. The party's stated principle is that "the purpose of civil government is to ensure security, freedom, and justice for all its citizens from conception till natural death, by upholding just laws". CHP states that, if the party forms government, it hopes to "apply proven
Judeo-Christian The term Judeo-Christian is used to group Christianity and Judaism together, either in reference to Christianity's derivation from Judaism, Christianity's borrowing of Jewish Scripture to constitute the "Old Testament" of the Christian Bible, or ...
principles of justice and compassion to Canada's contemporary public policy needs". Ed Vanwoudenberg was elected its first leader at the 1987 founding convention in
Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately southwest of T ...
. Jim Hnatiuk led the party from 2008 to early 2014, and Rod Taylor is the leader as of November 7, 2014. The party nominated candidates for the first time in the 1988 federal election, and ran numerous candidates in the 1993 and 1997 elections. It was unable to field 50 candidates in the 2000 election and was consequently de-registered by
Elections Canada Elections Canada (french: Élections Canada)The agency operates and brands itself as Elections Canada, its legal title is Office of the Chief Electoral Officer (). is the non-partisan agency responsible for administering Canadian federal electio ...
, the government elections agency. The party was re-registered in time for the 2004 election. and has run candidates in every subsequent election to that. Many of its founders had been members of the
Social Credit Social credit is a distributive philosophy of political economy developed by C. H. Douglas. Douglas attributed economic downturns to discrepancies between the cost of goods and the compensation of the workers who made them. To combat what he ...
movement. The majority of its members are
Dutch Canadians Dutch Canadians are Canadians with full or partial Dutch ancestry. According to the Canada 2006 Census, there were 1,035,965 Canadians of Dutch descent, including those of full or partial ancestry. This increased to 1,111,655 in 2016. History ...
who attend
Dutch Reformed The Dutch Reformed Church (, abbreviated NHK) was the largest Christian denomination in the Netherlands from the onset of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century until 1930. It was the original denomination of the Dutch Royal Family an ...
Churches.


Platform

Some of the key goals and principles of the CHP are: * Promoting the right to life from conception to
natural death In many legal jurisdictions, the manner of death is a determination, typically made by the coroner, medical examiner, police, or similar officials, and recorded as a vital statistic. Within the United States and the United Kingdom, a distinct ...
* Protecting life for vulnerable Canadians (Seniors, Handicapped, etc) * Protecting parental rights * Protection of
traditional marriage Traditional marriage may refer to: *Marriage and its customs and practices in a particular culture * Christian views on marriage * Islamic views on marriage *Opposite-sex marriage, used primarily by opponents of same-sex marriage. *Traditional ma ...
* Provide Family Care Allowance when one parent is providing full-time care in the home for children or dependent family members * Use the Bank of Canada to overhaul the economy and the infrastructure of Canada by providing interest-free loans to municipalities, provinces and
crown corporation A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a government entity which is established or nationalised by the ''national government'' or ''provincial government'' by an executive order or an act of legislation in order to earn profit for the governmen ...
s * Eliminate
income tax An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Tax ...
, and replace it with a "
fair tax FairTax was a single rate tax proposal in 2005, 2008 and 2009 in the United States that includes complete dismantling of the Internal Revenue Service. The proposal would eliminate all federal income taxes (including the alternative minimum t ...
" * Pay off the
national debt A country's gross government debt (also called public debt, or sovereign debt) is the financial liabilities of the government sector. Changes in government debt over time reflect primarily borrowing due to past government deficits. A deficit oc ...
"like a
mortgage A mortgage loan or simply mortgage (), in civil law jurisdicions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners to raise funds for any pu ...
and institute balanced budget protocols" * Support responsible firearms ownership * Restrict immigration to preserve equality and freedom, including a "moratorium on immigration from any Sharia based countries"


Electoral activity


Electoral results

''The party did not have official status for the 2000 election, but 46 candidates were nominated, listed on the ballot without any affiliation information. These figures represent the 46 "non-affiliated" candidates known to be nominees of the CHP.''


Party leaders


Edward John Vanwoudenberg (November 1987 – 1991)

Vanwoudenberg was head of the CHP from the party's founding convention in 1987 until 1991. From 1991 to 1994, he served as the Executive Director, and from 1994 to 1998, he served as the party's vice-president. A resident of
Hope, British Columbia Hope is a district municipality at the confluence of the Fraser and Coquihalla rivers in the province of British Columbia, Canada. Hope is at the eastern end of both the Fraser Valley and the Lower Mainland region, and is at the southern end ...
, he ran in the Canadian federal elections of
1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...
, 1993 and
2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...
.


Charles Cavilla (1991–1993)

Cavilla, of
Lethbridge Lethbridge ( ) is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada. With a population of 101,482 in its 2019 Alberta municipal censuses, 2019 municipal census, Lethbridge became the fourth Alberta city to surpass 100,000 people. The nearby Canadian ...
,
Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
, was leader of the CHP from the convention at
Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...
in October 1991 until March 1993. A difference of vision on leadership between Cavilla and the party board resulted in the transfer of leadership on an interim basis to
Heather Stilwell Heather Stilwell (January 26, 1944 – December 4, 2010) was a Canadian political activist and former school trustee in Surrey, British Columbia. A staunch Roman Catholic, she was well known for her opinions opposing homosexuality, abortion, and ...
.


Heather Stilwell (1993–1994) (interim)


Jean Blaquière (1994–1995)

Blaquière, a
Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement
pastor, was a candidate for the CHP in the Canadian federal election of 1993, and won the party leadership in March 1994 at a
Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
convention, in a race with two other contenders. Blaquière stepped down at the next convention in November 1995 in
London, Ontario London (pronounced ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximate ...
.


Ron Gray (1995–2008)

Gray was the leader of the CHP from 1995 to 2008. Born and educated in
British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
, Gray has worked in journalism, public relations, and the federal public service. He began his career at ''
The Vancouver Sun The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. Published si ...
'' newspaper, and has also worked at community newspapers in BC and in Suva, Fiji; and the '' BC Report'' magazine. He was a public information officer for a major public utility in BC, and for the
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...
. He was a Trade and Commerce Officer attached to the Canadian Consulate in
Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
. He later managed store-front
Federal government A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...
public information services in
Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...
and
Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
. He became Public Information Officer for one of BC's first community colleges, and later served 10 years in a similar capacity at
Trinity Western University Trinity Western University (TWU) is a Private university, private Christian liberal arts university with campuses in both Langley, British Columbia (district municipality), Langley and Richmond, British Columbia, Richmond, British Columbia. The sch ...
. In the 1988 federal election, Gray ran in his first election under the Christian Heritage Party banner in the electoral district of
Fraser Valley East Fraser Valley East was a federal electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1968 to 1997. This riding was created in 1966 from parts of Fraser Valley, Kamloops and Okanagan Bo ...
. On election night, he placed fourth out of six candidates with over eight percent of the popular vote, finishing well behind Progressive Conservative incumbent Ross Belsher. Gray ran for the CHP in every general election until stepping down as leader in 2008, with the exception of 1993. He has also contested four byelections, including one in
Calgary Southwest Calgary Southwest was a federal electoral district in Alberta, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1988 to 2015. The district was in the southwest part of the City of Calgary, south of Glenmore Trail and west of t ...
against
Canadian Alliance The Canadian Alliance (french: Alliance canadienne), formally the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance (french: Alliance réformiste-conservatrice canadienne), was a centre-right to right-wing federal political party in Canada that existed u ...
leader
Stephen Harper Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. Harper is the first and only prime minister to come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ...
. In a 1999 byelection, he finished one vote ahead of the Reform Party candidate in the Quebec riding of Hull—Aylmer. Gray became the party leader in 1995. His leadership was confirmed at three subsequent CHP conventions. He stepped down in November 2008. Near the end of 2006, a human rights complaint was filed against Ron Gray alleging communication via the Internet messages likely to expose homosexuals to hatred or contempt. By October 24, 2008, the complaint had been dropped and the file closed by the Canadian Human Rights Commission.


Jim Hnatiuk (2008–2014)

Hnatiuk was elected leader of the CHP in November 2008. As a youth, he attended a boarding school run by
Oblate In Christianity (especially in the Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican and Methodist traditions), an oblate is a person who is specifically dedicated to God or to God's service. Oblates are individuals, either laypersons or clergy, normally livi ...
priests. He joined the
Canadian Forces } The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; french: Forces armées canadiennes, ''FAC'') are the unified military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air elements referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Air Force. ...
and served with them for 25 years in the Combat Systems Engineering Department in the Canadian Forces attaining the rank of
Chief Petty Officer 1st Class Chief petty officer, 1st class, CPO1, is the most senior non-commissioned member (NCM) rank of the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN). It is equivalent to a chief warrant officer (CWO) in the Canadian Army and Royal Canadian Air Force. It is immediately s ...
. He has been involved with various churches and is a
deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...
at Emmanuel Baptist Church. Hnatiuk joined the Christian Heritage Party in 2002 and has run as a candidate for the party in
Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...
in the
2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...
,
2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...
and 2008 federal elections. He became deputy leader of the party in 2005 and was elected leader at the party's November 2008 convention in
London, Ontario London (pronounced ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximate ...
defeating Harold Ludwig and Rod Taylor on the first ballot of the party's
leadership convention {{Politics of Canada In Canadian politics, a leadership convention is held by a political party when the party needs to choose a leader due to a vacancy or a challenge to the incumbent leader. Overview In Canada, leaders of a party generally rem ...
. Hnatiuk was a candidate in the November 9, 2009 by-election in the riding of Cumberland—Colchester—Musquodoboit Valley, to replace
independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...
Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
Bill Casey William D. Casey (born February 19, 1945) is a Canadian politician from Nova Scotia who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons of Canada. First elected as a Progressive Conservative in 1988, he later sat as Conservative ...
. He came in fifth, losing to Scott Armstrong of the
Conservative Party of Canada The Conservative Party of Canada (french: Parti conservateur du Canada), colloquially known as the Tories, is a federal political party in Canada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main right-leaning parties, the Progressive Con ...
. Because of a difference in understanding on the leader's mandate to innovate in membership qualifications, and a motion by the national board to ask that the leader put promotion of his vision on hold until a full board meeting could discuss the vision, Hnatiuk submitted his resignation as leader effective February 1, 2014, though choosing to continue as a party member. In his professional life, he operates the largest hunting, fishing and taxidermy business in Nova Scotia.


David J. Reimer (March 2014 – November 2014) (interim)

David J. Reimer became a member of the CHP in 1987 while serving as a Pastor in Wetaskiwin, AB. He became active in his riding association and has served the party as candidate in each election since 1988. He served as candidate in the 2014 by-election in Macleod, Alberta. Until early 2014, Reimer served as interim provincial president for Manitoba, and was appointed as interim national leader to succeed Hnatiuk until the fall 2014 national convention.


Rod Taylor (2014–present)

Rod Taylor was born in 1951 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His family was involved in the US civil rights movement in the 1960s and various other social justice issues. He graduated from high school in California and moved with his parents and siblings to British Columbia (BC) in 1968.https://www.chp.ca/about/leader CHP Party Leader Biography Taylor has worked maintaining track and roadbed for the Canadian National Railway, on farms, in the oil and gas fields in Alberta, and in sawmills and forestry work in BC. From 1987 until 2009, Taylor was involved in lumber grading and lumber quality control in Smithers, BC. In 2000 Taylor won the BC Interior Lumber Grading Championship. In 2001, Taylor ran as a provincial candidate for the
British Columbia Unity Party The British Columbia Unity Party was a political party in British Columbia, Canada. The party was founded as an attempted union of five conservative parties: the Reform Party of British Columbia, the British Columbia Social Credit Party, the Brit ...
, and in 2004, 2006 and 2008 he represented the CHP in the federal riding of Skeena-Bulkley Valley. Taylor has served the CHP nationally as Interim President for CHP BC, BC Provincial President, Deputy Leader, Western Regional Development Director and National Development Director. He was named party leader at the 2014 convention in Hamilton, Ontario.


Provincial branches

The British Columbia Heritage Party voted to become the BC provincial wing of CHP in 2011, and was renamed as the Christian Heritage Party of British Columbia (CHP-BC) after signing a formal affiliation agreement in 2012. Members of the CHP in Manitoba began efforts around the same time to form a branch in their province, but as of 2015 little progress has been made. While the parties were not formally connected, the membership of the deregistered provincial
New Reform Party of Ontario The New Reform Party of Ontario (NRP; french: Nouveau Parti réformiste de l'Ontario) was a minor provincial political party in Ontario, Canada, that promoted a populism, populist, fiscal conservatism, fiscally conservative, social conservatism ...
(formerly the Family Coalition Party of Ontario) overlapped significantly with CHP as the parties shared many socially conservative policies.


See also

*
Social conservatism in Canada Social conservatism in Canada represents conservative positions on issues of family, sexuality and morality. In the European and North American context, social conservatives believe in natural law as well as traditional family values and policies ...
*Lists of candidates:
2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...
,
2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...
,
2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
,
2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...
,
2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...
,
2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...
,
1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...
, 1993,
1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...


References


Sources

* * *


Bibliography

* Robert K. Burkinshaw. ''Pilgrims in Lotus Land: Conservative Protestantism in British Columbia 1917-1981'' (Mcgill-Queen's Studies in the History of Religion, 1995) * Paul Freston. ''Protestant political parties: a global survey'' (2004)


External links

*
Christian Heritage Party - Canadian Political Parties and Political Interest Groups
- Web Archive created by the University of Toronto Libraries {{Authority control 1987 establishments in Canada Christian political parties Conservative parties in Canada Dutch Canadian Dutch Reformed Church Federal political parties in Canada Organizations based in Ottawa Political parties established in 1987 Protestant political parties Social conservative parties