Editing Progressive Canadian Party (section)

==Founding and 2004 election==

Following the dissolution of the [[Progressive Conservative Party of Canada]] and its merger with the [[Canadian Alliance]] into the new [[Conservative Party of Canada]], the Progressive Canadian Party was formed by "[[Red Tory|Red Tories]]" who opposed the merger. One of the organizers, [[Joe Hueglin]], was a former Progressive Conservative [[Member of Parliament]] (MP) from [[Niagara Falls, Ontario]].<ref>{{cite book | url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3138/j.ctv1n358pg | jstor=10.3138/j.ctv1n358pg | title=The Blueprint | year=2017 | publisher=University of Toronto Press | isbn=9781487521684 }}</ref>

In announcing the new party, Hueglin stated that the party had about a dozen potential candidates and a mailing list of 330 names.  The party nominated 16 candidates for the 2004 general election, mostly in southern [[Ontario]] and [[Nova Scotia]].

The party held a national convention in 2005 to select a leader and to develop policies. It has also established the "Macdonald-Cartier PC Fund" to raise money for the party, under the direction of [[Sinclair Stevens]], a cabinet minister in the Progressive Conservative government of [[Brian Mulroney]].

On November 17, 2005, the Federal Court of Appeal rejected Stevens' lawsuit to force Chief Electoral Officer [[Jean-Pierre Kingsley]] to rescind recognition of the merger of the Progressive Conservative Party with the Canadian Alliance. The court did rule, however, that Kingsley erred in not waiting 30 days to register the merger.  Stevens appealed the ruling to the [[Supreme Court of Canada]], but that court announced on April 27, 2006, that it would not hear the appeal. The court gave no reason for its decision.