The Work Less Party (WLP) was a Canadian federal political party that became eligible for registration with

Elections Canada Elections Canada (french: Élections Canada)The agency operates and brands itself as Elections Canada, its legal title is Office of the Chief Electoral Officer (). is the non-partisan agency responsible for administering Canadian federal electi ...

on October 1, 2007. The federal Work Less Party was voluntarily de-registered on July 31, 2010, after applying for and being granted an extension to the June 30, 2010 deadline for filing a 2009 financial return to Elections Canada. The federal Work Less Party is no longer able to issue tax receipts for political contributions. The party had a provincial branch in

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include ...

, the

Work Less Party of British Columbia The Work Less Party was a political party in the Canadian province of British Columbia. The party was founded in 2003 by Conrad Schmidt and de-registered in May 2017. The primary aim of this party was to move to a 32-hour work week and its part ...

, and a wing that operates on the municipal level in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. Th ...

History

The WLP was formed as a provincial and municipal party in British Columbia by

Conrad Schmidt Conrad Schmidt (born 1969) is a social activist, filmmaker and writer living in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, who is best known for his role in founding the Work Less Party of British Columbia and for creating the internationally known World ...

in 2003. In October 2004 Schmidt gave up his day job to be able to give more attention to the party. A federal wing was created in 2007. The party gained registered status with Elections Canada. In May 2009, Jessica Mason-Paull became its leader, swapping roles with Schmidt, who then became the Chief Auditor. The party nominated only a single candidate for the

2008 Canadian federal election The 2008 Canadian federal election was held on October 14, 2008, to elect members to the House of Commons of Canada of the 40th Canadian Parliament after the previous parliament had been dissolved by Governor General Michaëlle Jean on Septe ...

Betty Krawczyk Betty Shiver Krawczyk (born August 1928) is a Louisiana-born, British Columbia, Canada based environmental activist, author and former political candidate. Krawczyk is well known locally for having been arrested and imprisoned numerous times for d ...

ran unsuccessfully in the riding of

Vancouver East Vancouver East (french: Vancouver-Est) is a federal electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1935. It is currently represented by New Democratic Party MP Jenny Kwan. Th ...

, receiving 1.02% of the votes (423 votes). At a national level, this was 0.0013 percent of votes cast. The party was de-registered at the federal level on July 31, 2010.

Platform

The platform of the Work Less Party was based primarily around the rights of workers. The party advocated for the shortening of the work week to 32 hours from 40, reduction of Canada's

carbon footprint A carbon footprint is the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused by an individual, event, organization, service, place or product, expressed as carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e). Greenhouse gases, including the carbon-containing gases carb ...

, a

minimum wage A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation by the end of the 20th century. B ...

increase, decentralized government, and promotion of cultural activities. Economic ideas underpinning the WLP's policy were discussed in

's 2006 book ''Workers of the World Relax''.

References

External links

Work Less Party homepageElections Canada List of Federal Political PartiesTake Back Your Time
- "a U.S./Canadian initiative to challenge the epidemic of overwork, over-scheduling and time famine" Political parties disestablished in 2010 Political parties established in 2007 Federal political parties in Canada Labor rights Labour parties Working time Work–life balance {{Canada-party-stub