Unity Party of Canada

The Unity Party of Canada was a "Third Way", Nationalist political party in Canada. It is now defunct. At its height in 2001, the Unity Party had no more than 20 members. Although it declined to register for the 2000 federal election, it had plans to register for the 2004 elections. The Unity Party wanted to reform democracy and create a form of "centralized democracy" in which a strong central leadership would run the country while still being accountable to the public through referendums. After a short while, though, two strong factions appeared in the party: a progressive nationalist leftwing, and an increasingly virulent right-wing. The two sides were unable to agree on major social policies. The party's membership was split on practically every issue: abortion, same-sex marriage, whether to reform the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) or return to a protectionist National Policy, the monarchy, religion and state. The only thing that kept the party together was a shared Canadian nationalism. By 2001, most of the core members had lost interest. Many drifted to other nationalist and nationalistic parties on the left and right, including the New Democratic Party, the Canadian Action Party, the Christian Heritage Party, and others. By early 2003, the website had shut down, the members where no longer in contact, and the party became defunct. The Unity Party was not related to the fascist Parti national social chrétien/National Unity Party of Adrien Arcand of the 1930s and 40s. See also: List of Canadian political parties