The Progressive Democratic Alliance (PDA) was a centrist political party in British Columbia, Canada founded by Gordon Wilson, Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Powell River—Sunshine Coast. Wilson, previously the leader of the British Columbia Liberal Party, led that party through a breakthrough in the provincial election of 1991, in which they rose from no parliamentary representation to

official opposition Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. This article uses the term ''government'' as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning ''th ...

status. He was unable to hold his caucus together, however, and was forced to call a leadership convention following revelations about his personal relationship with another member of the small Liberal caucus, Judi Tyabji, MLA for Okanagan East. Tyabji and Wilson were both married to others at the time; they subsequently divorced and married each other. Many in the Liberal Party believed that their relationship created at least the potential for a serious

conflict of interest A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates to situations i ...

. After losing the leadership challenge to Gordon Campbell, who in turn led the party to victory in the 2001 provincial election, Wilson and Tyabji left the party to establish the Progressive Democratic Alliance on December 5, 1993. In the subsequent June 26,

1996 general election The following elections occurred in the year 1996. * 1995–1996 Azerbaijani parliamentary election * 1996 Beninese presidential election * 1996 Comorian presidential election * 1996 New Zealand general election * 1996 Nicaraguan general election ...

, Wilson retained his seat, while all 65 other PDA candidates, including Tyabji, were defeated. The party won a total of 90,797 votes, or 5.74% of the popular vote. The PDA was disbanded by Wilson in 1997 when he joined the ruling New Democratic Party of British Columbia to become a member of Cabinet. He later ran for the provincial NDP leadership, but lost to Ujjal Dosanjh. He lost his legislative seat in the 2001 provincial election. In 2004, former party activists attempted to resuscitate the PDA. Finding financial obstacles, they instead formed the

British Columbia Democratic Alliance The British Columbia Democratic Alliance was a political party at the provincial level in the Province of British Columbia, Canada. It was founded in June 2004 by "individuals who are progressive in their policies, democratic in their principles, ...

, billing it as a successor organization.

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