Paddy Roberts

Who is Paddy Roberts?

Paddy Roberts is the Chairman of the Progressive Nationalist Party of British Columbia, which says it will contest both provincial and federal elections in British Columbia, Canada on a platform of independent nationhood for British Columbia.

“We are a great people living in a great place, and we can form our own nation with no difficulty,” he told a local newspaper in 2005, saying the party had a few confirmed candidates for the 2005 provincial election, but hoped for a total of 50. Besides separation, he promised “a comprehensive, centrist platform, drawing the best ideas from all the parties.”

In the 2001 provincial election, Roberts ran for the British Columbia Marijuana Party in Shuswap, receiving under 900 votes. He also served as the party's justice critic.

He was later critical of the BCMP and of its prominent figure Marc Emery, and began to propose a separatist party in 2001.

In the past, Roberts has been indicted in Canada and the United States on charges related to marijuana, and in 2002 and 2003, he was held for 135 days in a Dutch jail while the United States was seeking to extradite him. The extradition attempt was abandoned and Roberts returned to Canada where he was acquitted of the allegations in November 2004.