Atlantica Party

The Atlantica Party was registered as a political party by Elections Nova Scotia on June 28, 2016.[1]

Leader: Jonathan Geoffrey Dean
Official Agent: Chris Bowie
President: Undisclosed
Treasurer: Undisclosed
Secretary: Undisclosed

The party ran 15 candidates in the 2017 provincial election, its first contested election, and received a total of 1,632 votes, a miniscule 0.41% of the provincial total.[2]

The party has ran in three by-elections garnering extremely low vote totals:

On June 18, 2019, David Boyd received 43 votes, 0.68% of the total vote in the riding of Sackville-Cobequid. On September 3, 2019, interim leader, Thomas Bethell received 28 votes, 0.36% of the total vote in the riding of Northside-Westmount.[3] On March 10, 2020, Matthew Rushton received 55 votes, 0.96% of the total in the electoral district of Truro-Bible Hill-Millbrook-Salmon River.[4]

Jonathan Dean announced his resignation from the party on January 7, 2018.[5]

Ryan Smyth was officially named as interim leader of the party on January 16, 2018; however, he officially took over as interim leader on January 7, 2018, the effective date of Dean's resignation.[6] Ryan Smyth resigned as interim leader on April 18, 2019. Thomas Bethell was elected as the new interim leader by the Party on April 23, 2019. He resigned on March 26, 2020. Ryan Smyth was elected as interim leader on March 29, 2020. Smyth was removed as leader on or about August 30, 2020, replaced by former leader, Jonathan Dean.

• Jonathan Geoffrey Dean (June 26, 2016 – January 7, 2018)
• Jeffrey Ryan Smyth (interim) (January 7, 2018 – April 18, 2019)
• Thomas James Bethell (interim) (April 23, 2019 - March 26, 2020)
• Jeffrey Ryan Smyth (interim) (March 29, 2020 - c° August 31, 2020)
• Jonathan Geoffrey Dean (c° August 31, 2020 -)

On June 20, 2018, Chief Electoral Officer of Elections Nova Scotia, Richard Temporale, suspended the party for breaches of sections 216(3)(a) and 216(3)(b) respectively due to an illegal loan made by former leader, Jonathan Dean.[7]

On July 31, Mr. Dean entered into a Compliance Agreement with Elections Nova Scotia.[8] The party entered into its own Compliance Agreement with Elections Nova Scotia on August 7, 2018.[9]

The party was reinstated by Elections Nova Scotia on August 16, 2018.[10]

On August 31, 2020, Tim Bousquet, founder of the Halifax Examiner, broke the news that Jonathan Dean was once again leader. Bousquet noted that he believes Mr. Dean leaked the announcement of his own return.[11]

On November 20, 2020, the Party finally issued an announcement that Mr. Dean had returned as leader, nearly three months after he was appointed by the executive without any consultation with the party's membership.[12] There is no indication of when a formal leadership race may be held, nor the parameters of such a race. The Atlantica Party is the only provincial party in Canada with an unelected permanent leader raising serious questions about its legitimacy and claims of "accountability" and "transparency".

On November 26, 2020, Mr. Dean gave his first interview in nearly three years on "The Rick Howe Show". Dean blamed his dismissal from the Party on a former executive that had deviated, in Dean's words, from the party's original "big ideas". He also touted the party's "highest polling numbers ever" in the 2017 election; the only general election that the party has ever ran in. Mr. Howe correctly noted that the party finished in last place in all 15 electoral districts in which it ran in that election. When questioned about his appointment as leader, Dean falsely affirmed that he was "elected" by a "unanimous" "party vote", offering no evidence to substantiate this unfounded claim.[13]

• Atlantica Party official site