Unionest Party

The Unionest Party was a provincial political party in Saskatchewan, Canada, in the early 1980s, that advocated union between the four western provinces of Canada (British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba) and the United States.

The party’s name was a contraction of ‘best union’.

The party was founded in March 1980 by Dick Collver, a former leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Saskatchewan, who resigned from the PC caucus when he announced the formation of his new party.

A few days later, another PC member of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan (MLA), Dennis Ham, also left the PC caucus to join Collver. (Ham was the brother of , who later became the leader of the Saskatchewan Liberal Party and later Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan.)

The Unionest Party was formed at a time when several western separatist parties (such as the Western Canada Concept) were being formed and attracting considerable attention and support because of dissatisfaction with the federal Liberal government.

Collver and Ham formed the legislative caucus of the Unionest Party. The Unionests then qualified as the official third party under the legislative act then in existence. This entitled the Unionests to special perquisites: Collver was to receive an additional $27,000 for office staff expense and an additional $11,000 in extra allowance as Leader of the Third Party. Ham was to receive an additional $16,000 for office expenses and $2,700 in an extra allowance.

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