This afternoon, a non-confidence motion moved by the Liberal Party passed Parliament, thus calling an election. Despite rhetoric from all parties indicating that they did not want an election, the government was nevertheless defeated.

With the end of this session, we are pleased to see the end of the misguided copyright reform bill, C-32. We look forward to participating in the creation of the next Canadian copyright attempt.

The Pirate Party is ready for an election. We are preparing to contest our first general election, also the first involving a Pirate Party outside of Europe. After finishing in the Winnipeg North by-election only 20 votes behind the Green Party candidate, we are confident in a strong showing from our 7 candidates in 5 provinces.

The Pirate Party will be running candidates in the following ridings:

Alberta
Edmonton Centre: Mikkel Paulson (Leader) – mikkel.ca

British Columbia
Langley: Craig Nobbs – craignobbs.ca
Vancouver Centre: Travis McCrea

Manitoba
Provencher: Ric Lim

Ontario
Ottawa Centre: Oren Mazor
Ottawa South: Mike Bleskie (Director-at-Large) – mikebleskie.com

Quebec
Laval—Les Îles: Stéphane Bakhos (Director-at-Large) – stephanebakhos.com

While we intend to run each of these campaigns with every intention of a win, we recognize that winning is not the only reason to fight. Every candidate we present gives us one more opportunity to speak for Canadians who have too long gone ignored: those who are concerned by the erosion of their civil and digital rights, those who believe in the importance of placing innovation and creativity over profit, and all those who still believe in democracy in Canada.

The Pirate Party of Canada is a federal political party focused on technology leadership through open government, copyright and patent reform, and Canadians’ right to privacy. We support genuine democracy, the protection of human rights, and freedom of the internet. The PPCA website is located at www.pirateparty.ca.