Editing Progressive Democratic Alliance (section)

{{Short description|Political party in British Columbia (1993–1999)}}
{{For|the party in Equatorial Guinea|Progressive Democratic Alliance (Equatorial Guinea)}}
{{Infobox political party
| name             = Progressive Democratic Alliance
| logo             = 
| colorcode        = {{Canadian party colour|BC|PDA}}
| leader           = [[Gordon Wilson (British Columbia politician)|Gordon Wilson]]
| founder          = Gordon Wilson
| founded          = {{start date|1993}}
| dissolved        = {{end date|1999}}
| successor        = British Columbia Democratic Alliance
| ideology         = [[Centrism]]
| position         = 
| headquarters     = 
| country          = Canada
| state            = British Columbia
| parties_dab1     = List of political parties in British Columbia
| elections_dab1   = List of British Columbia general elections
}}

The '''Progressive Democratic Alliance''' ('''PDA''') was a [[Centrism|centrist]] political party in [[British Columbia]], Canada. It was founded by [[Gordon Wilson (British Columbia politician)|Gordon Wilson]], who at the time of the party's founding in 1993 represented [[Powell River-Sunshine Coast|Powell River–Sunshine Coast]] in the [[Legislative Assembly of British Columbia|Legislative Assembly]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=canadian content- Gordon Wilson: The Next Leader of British Columbia's NDP? |url=https://www.canadiancontent.ca/issues/0399wilson.html |access-date=2024-12-02 |website=www.canadiancontent.ca}}</ref>

Wilson, previously the leader of the [[British Columbia Liberal Party]], led that party through a breakthrough in the [[1991 British Columbia general election|provincial election of 1991]], in which they rose from no parliamentary representation to [[official opposition]] status.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gordon Wilson urges British Columbians to ‘come home’ and support the BC Liberals {{!}} Globalnews.ca |url=https://globalnews.ca/news/537215/gordon-wilson-urges-british-columbians-to-come-home-and-support-the-bc-liberals/ |access-date=2024-12-02 |website=Global News |language=en-US}}</ref> 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]].

After losing the leadership challenge to [[Gordon Campbell (Canadian politician)|Gordon Campbell]], who in turn would lead the party to victory in the [[2001 British Columbia general election|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 British Columbia general election|1996 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 1999 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.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-10-24 |title=How the North Island voted in former elections from 1991 to 2020 |url=https://www.northislandgazette.com/home/how-the-north-island-voted-in-former-elections-from-1991-to-2020-7605919 |access-date=2024-12-02 |website=North Island Gazette |language=en}}</ref>

In 2004, former party activists attempted to resuscitate the PDA. Finding financial obstacles, they instead formed the British Columbia Democratic Alliance, billing it as a successor organization.