LONDON, UK, January 26, 2021 – With an estimated three million Canadians living abroad, a group of conservatives have launched a new organization to represent and mobilize expatriate Canadians who are supporters of the Conservative Party of Canada and the country’s provincial conservative parties.
Canadian Conservatives Abroad (CCA) will:
- Mobilize expatriate conservatives to vote in Canadian elections;
- Serve as a resource for conservative policy makers seeking information and analysis on global affairs from a conservative perspective; and
- Provide conservatives with opportunities to network with other like-minded Canadians.
Nigel Wright (UK) will serve as Chair of the Executive Committee of CCA and former Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird will serve as Honorary President. Other members of the organization’s leadership group include:
- Barrett Bingley (Hong Kong)
- Georganne Burke (USA)
- Herman Cheung (Switzerland)
- Patrick Muttart (UK)
- Brett Stephenson (Singapore)
- Jamie Tronnes (Saudi Arabia)
- Ian Vaculik (UK)
“The size of the expatriate Canadian population is the equivalent of 30 ridings,” said Baird. “This is an important group of voters that often do not exercise their right to vote because they are unaware of their rights or they face administrative hurdles. CCA is here to help.”
Based in London, with a global mandate, CCA is member-driven volunteer organization that operates independently from the Conservative Party of Canada and provincial conservative parties. The organization is developing local clusters of supporters.
“We’re starting with a solid base in the US, UK, the Middle East and Asia,” said Wright. “These conservatives will be available to provide practical on-the-ground information and analysis to policy-makers interested in global affairs.”
CCA joins other expatriate groups which support parties of the centre-right including Republicans Overseas, Conservatives Abroad (UK) and Australian Liberals Abroad.
The organization’s first policy priority will be encouraging discussion and debate about the establishment of a “CANZUK” alliance between Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. CANZUK proposals include facilitated migration, education, free trade and foreign policy coordination between the four countries.
To this point, CCA will sponsor a concurrent policy event during the Conservative Party of Canada’s upcoming March policy convention which will be held virtually due to COVID-19 The event – “A Conversation on CANZUK” will feature British Conservative MP Andrew Rosindell.
Conservatives living abroad can apply to join CCA.
