Pro-Family Politics and Fringe Parties in Canada

In November 2000, the Family Coalition Party of British Columbia (FCP) merged with four other conservative parties to form the Unity Party of British Columbia. Rising from the ashes of BC's once venerable Social Credit Party nine years earlier, the FCP comprised a group of pro-life, pro-family activists, and provides a prime example of a political party that was initially launched to do the work of a social movement. A unique piece of scholarship, Pro-Family Politics and Fringe Parties in Canada examines the FCP's development from its origins as a group of alienated Socred members, through its struggles as a marginal political entity, to its rebirth as the Unity Party of British Columbia. While addressing the FCP's relationship to the larger North American pro-family movement, MacKenzie also deftly demonstrates how the party can be seen as organizationally congruent with its ideological antithesis, the Green Party. Armed with seven years of field research on the FCP, MacKenzie illustrates the obstacles that political parties that do social movement work--or party/movements--must overcome in order to achieve their goals. His conclusion is that, despite their invaluable contribution to democracy, such party/movements have a limited political life, as these challenges inevitably push them towards mainstream political institutionalization. Given this inevitable drift to institutionalization, MacKenzie suggests that in the end the only realistic goal for these parties/movements may be to merge their ideals with another larger political body.

Of interest to scholars and students of political sociology and political science, as well as to Canadian and political historians, Pro-Family Politics and Fringe Parties in Canada makes a substantial contribution to our understanding of the genesis, development, and impact of political party/movements in Canada. Moreover, it provides useful insight into the dynamics and issues that make up the current pro-family movements in Canada and the U.S.

Chris MacKenzie teaches in the Department of Anthropology and Sociology at the University of British Columbia.