Doug Christie was a British Columbia lawyer and political activist who founded and led the Western Canada Concept (WCC), a separatist political party advocating for the independence of Western Canada from Canadian Confederation. The WCC, established in 1980, sought to create a new nation comprising Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, and the territories of Yukon and Northwest Territories (including present-day Nunavut), driven by the belief that Western Canada could not receive fair treatment under a Canadian political system dominated by Ontario and Quebec interests2.
Christie's involvement in Western separatism began in 1974 with a letter to the editor of the Victoria Colonist (now Times Colonist), highlighting inequities faced by the West. This letter spurred the formation of the Committee for Western Independence, which later evolved into the WCC138. He launched the WCC with a speaking tour across Western Canada in 1980, gaining significant attention following the announcement of the National Energy Program by the Trudeau government, which many Westerners viewed as an expropriation of their oil resources. A notable rally on November 20, 1980, at the Jubilee Auditorium in Edmonton drew over 2,800 attendees, marking a peak in the party’s early popularity15.
The WCC achieved moderate success in the 1980s, including winning a seat in the Alberta legislature during a 1982 by-election, though it later faded into political irrelevance56. Internal conflicts and provincial in-fighting weakened the party, prompting Christie to refocus it as a broader Western Canadian national movement from 1982 to 1995, supported by public meetings and the monthly publication of the Western Separatist Papers1. Despite being expelled from the national leadership in 1981 due to controversies surrounding his legal representation of neo-Nazis and Holocaust deniers like James Keegstra and Ernst Zündel, Christie continued to lead the British Columbia provincial branch and ran as a candidate in multiple elections27.
In 2005, Christie founded the Western Block Party, a federal separatist party modeled after the Bloc Québécois, focusing on the separation of the four Western provinces. However, it failed to gain significant traction, fielding only a few candidates in federal elections with minimal voter support, and was deregistered by Elections Canada in 2015 after failing to maintain the required membership following Christie's death on March 11, 201367. At the time of his passing, Christie was still registered as the leader of the WCC in British Columbia, though the party was no longer a significant political force7.
Throughout his career, Christie was a polarizing figure, known not only for his separatist advocacy but also for his legal defense of controversial figures, which often overshadowed his political efforts. Despite never being elected to office, his persistent promotion of Western independence and ideas like a regionally elected Senate left a lasting impact on Western Canadian political discourse34.
Citations:
- https://westcan.org/history_of_the_wcc.htm
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Canada_Concept
- https://westcan.org/douglas_christie.htm
- https://www.douglaschristie.com
- https://thewalrus.ca/the-new-separatists/
- https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/dream-of-free-and-independent-western-canada-ends-as-separatist-party-officially-deregistered
- https://thetyee.ca/Life/2013/03/13/The-Unauthorized-Obituary-of-Doug-Christie/
- http://www.douglaschristie.com/scrapbook/
- https://www.mccallgardens.com/obituaries/douglas-hewson-christie/
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