Fox Creek, AB - December 12

The Pirate Party along with many others in Canada were excited to hear about MP Michael Chong’s bill to reform the party caucuses. After reading the text the party sent an email to Michael Chong’s office regarding a section of the language regarding requirements for EDAs (Electoral District Associations) to choose party candidates as it seemed this would block candidates if their party didn’t have an EDA in their riding. Michael Chong’s office replied:

“Michael is open to friendly amendments that would address this issue, although we understand that it only takes 4 members to form an EDA and the financial agent requirement can be done centrally or regionally. Michaels intention is only to take the requirement away from Party leaders not to make it more difficult for parties to run a candidate.”

In short the bill’s language implies that if a party lacks an EDA it will not be able to run a candidate but this was not his intention. While this is a relatively unimportant issue for the major parties it is a significant setback for smaller parties who may only have their candidate in a riding when an election is called. The result is a party potentially cannot run in as many ridings as would otherwise be the case. While founding an EDA sounds like a small issue, minor parties don’t need the extra paperwork. The simplest amendment to fix this issue would be to only apply the new rules to parties with representation in parliament.

“I’m sure people would be inclined to scoff at this problem. Afterall, who cares if a parties that collectively receive less than 1% of the vote are disadvantaged? This view is short-sighted. In living memory we have seen Progressive Conservatives reduced to a single digit seat count, the Bloc Quebecois implode, and both the Liberals and NDP swing widely in seat totals. I’m sure there were some EDAs that got de-registered through all that. This bill could potentially make party recoveries more difficult while at the same time making it harder for new parties to start. We also currently have the Green Party which has had to deregister some of its EDAs. It may have willing candidates to run a full slate next election but it is unclear if they would be able to do so with the proposed law in effect. Perhaps most damning is that it would limit democratic choice needlessly”, says James Wilson, Leader of the Pirate Party of Canada. The Pirate Party supports reducing the power of party leaders over their caucuses. The complete suppression of dissent is not healthy for Canadian democracy. However, making democracy easier in one part of Canadian politics while making it harder in another is not a positive step forward. Hopefully another member of Parliament will see that fixing this flaw is necessary and introduce an amendment. Perhaps, Elizabeth May as her Green Party most risks losing the gains they have made.

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 .