Maverick Party officially deregistered by Elections Canada for failing to file financial return

The political movement born from post-election frustration in Western Canada has officially met its end, at least in its current form.

Elections Canada has deregistered the Maverick Party, the agency announced Monday, after the party failed to file its mandatory 2023 financial records. The decision, effective February 28, 2025, brings an end to the federal registration of the party formerly known as Wexit Canada.

According to the notice from the Chief Electoral Officer, the party was stripped of its status for not providing its Annual Financial Transactions Return and auditor's report for 2023 as required by the Canada Elections Act.

The deregistration means the party can no longer issue tax receipts for contributions, loses its access to allocated broadcasting time, and has seen all of its affiliated electoral district associations automatically dissolved.

A "Wexit" From The Political Scene

The Maverick Party was born out of the "Wexit" movement—a portmanteau of "Western" and "Exit"—that gained significant traction immediately after the 2019 federal election. Frustrated voters in Alberta and Saskatchewan, where the Liberal government won few seats, fuelled a push for Western Canadian autonomy and even independence.

Originally founded as Wexit Canada in January 2020, the party rebranded to the Maverick Party that September. Its stated goal was to fight for fairness for Western Canadians, modeling itself after the Bloc Québécois to act as a dedicated regional voice in Parliament.

The party ran 29 candidates in the 2021 federal election, primarily in Alberta, but failed to come close to winning a single seat. Candidates typically garnered only between one and four per cent of the vote.

"Red tape" And A Quiet End

The party was briefly led by Jay Hill, a former Conservative House Leader who came out of retirement to serve as interim leader from 2020 to 2022, describing himself as a "reluctant separatist." In May 2022, Colin Krieger took over as leader.

Following the deregistration announcement, Krieger acknowledged the financial filing issue to subscribers of the party's newsletter, citing difficulty in finding qualified auditors and describing the situation as “a considerable amount of bureaucracy and red tape.”

The party joins a long list of small, regional Canadian political movements that have struggled to maintain the administrative infrastructure required to stay on the federal ballot. A formal notice of the deregistration is expected to be published in the Canada Gazette.

With the party now dissolved, the organized political voice for Western separatism is once again absent from the federal stage.