PRESS RELEASE: Pirate Party Supports Vital Caucus Reforms

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Fox Creek, AB - December 1

It was reported on Friday that Conservative MP Michael Chong is tabling a bill to enact major changes to the relationship between party leaders and their caucuses. The reforms would give MPs the ability to schedule a non-confidence motion in their leader if 15% of the caucus agrees and potentially remove their leader if 50% plus one of the caucus vote to do so. The caucus would also be in charge of determining its own membership, not the party leader. The reform would also remove the requirement for the party leader’s signature for candidates in elections. Instead, the riding associations themselves would get final say on who is to be their candidate.

The requirement for a candidate to have the leader’s signature to run has only existed since the 1970s. The lack of leader  accountability to the caucus has been around for a bit longer, arising in the 1930s. Originally party leaders were chosen by the caucus but the demands for a more democratic selection led to the first national conventions. Unfortunately, the party leaders realized quickly that they were now more than leaders of their caucuses, they were masters of them. Many of the problems in Parliament can be traced back to the immense power wielded by the party leaders. This reform bill will correct the power imbalance that has arose between party leaders and their MPs without losing the democratic nature of party leader selection.

“These reforms are huge. There was a time when MPs, like R.B. Bennett, could absolutely skewer their own party’s record on the floor of Commons and have a reasonable chance of becoming party leader themselves one day. Fast forward to 2013 and such a person would be persona non grata, most likely forever. The leaders in Parliament would have it no other way, as seen by the Conservatives, Liberals and New Democrats already coming out against it”, says James Wilson, Leader of the Pirate Party of Canada. The Pirate Party supports MP Michael Chong private members bill and will be calling on its members and the general public to contact their MPs encouraging them to support these vital reforms. The party will also be opposing attempts to either water down this bill or destroy it with ‘poison pill’ amendments.

The Pirate Party of Canada is a federal political party focused on thoughtful information policy reform, genuine democracy, civil liberties, and the freedom of the Internet. You can find out more online at www.pirateparty.ca .

Category: Elections, Legislation, National Issues, Newsroom, Parliament.
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2 comments for PRESS RELEASE: Pirate Party Supports Vital Caucus Reforms

  1. Jean Chicoine commented at
    Folgendes:

    Here’s a bill I’d like to see materialized. Enough with the leaders’ monopoly. Give the MP’s the voice and the power they deserve.

  2. Pingback: Reclaiming Democracy: ReformAct | Whoa! Canada

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>>>Pourquoi le Parti Pirate?<<<

Why Pirate Party?

1. Open Democracy

One of our main founding principles was Open Government. This means an Open Data policy with proactive disclosure and free access to government data. This will allow anyone to scrutinize and catch any error, negligence or corruption early on. Open Government also means increased transparency, and giving constituents real voices. This can be achieved with electoral reform .

2. Mincome / Basic Income Guarantee (B.I.G.)

Unemployment and income inequality is on the rise and we risk a breakdown of social cohesion without a system for resource distribution as we face increased automation. We're shifting from a bureaucratic culture of constant work-demands to a culture of passion, joy, and learning for the sake of learning.

Mincome will lead to cost savings and create a sustainable economy. See our press release for how that can be achieved.

3. Autonomy and Decentralization

We believe that the world works best when individuals are making informed decisions. It is our goal to get all information to all people, so they may be more informed voters, consumers, participants, and teachers. We do not need to force information culture & the hacker ethic onto people we can simply allow them to choose access. We believe the right to choose our identity, name, and appearance is inalienable.

4. Copyright and Patent Reform
Copyright and patent's main purpose was for propagation of culture and innovation. Our current copyright and patent laws are continuously being corrupted due to lobbying by copyright and patent monopolist. These monopolist refuses to innovate and provide wider access and pass on the savings from the new lower distribution cost. Instead the copyright and patent terms keeps getting extended to benefit the few to the detriment of the public interest. The opposite should happen. Copyright and patent terms should be shortened since our new information infrastructure (i.e. the internet) have brought us cheaper and faster means of distributing media contents and information. Mandatory licensing, owner's rights to a non-DRM product, open access to research data and shorter copyright term are some of the natural changes that is needed if we want to create a more open and progressive society. This will ensure future artist and innovator are not hampered by patent and copyright gatekeepers who uses rent seeking law for anti-competitive purposes.

Human beings increasingly have a moral duty to share information with one another. Libraries are stuck in the last century, enforcing artificial scarcity on digital content. If libraries were upgraded for the modern age, we would no longer need filesharing. And let's face it, watching and listening to whatever you want to is fun. It breaks down arbitrary global borders of access and creates a global culture defined by people- not by corporations.

At the Pirate Party- we believe more information leads to better decisions. We believe that more voices leads to better compromises. We believe in Canadians.

Our democracy need a serious upgrade and Pirate Party aims to change politics to the way it should be.

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