Pirate Party Saves, Gains +2 Strength Next Election

TORONTO - The Pirate Party is announcing it will not run in the Labrador by-election due to a flawed Canadian election system. The Pirate Party of Canada is dissapointed by the Liberal Party’s position on many issues such as copyright reform, proportional representation, and civil liberties. However, we believe that not only does the Conservative Party not embrace Canadian values as we see them, it is also putting undue economic pressure on younger, growing parties like ours. Removal of funding based on vote percentage will severely limits our – and all other emerging parties’ – future ability to run a successful and fair campaign. New parties will be put at a disadvantage against the established and affluent parties. The Pirate Party does not believe it “splits the vote”, as a vote for us is a vote for twenty-first century politics and civil liberties both online and off, but we have to accept that under our flawed first-past-the-post voting system, many Canadians still vote strategically instead of for the candidate they truly want.

“There’s something very wrong when Canadians are stuck with a majority government that less than 30% of the voters actually support,” new Pirate Party leader Travis McCrea states. “New rising parties will have too few seats while the Conservative have disproportionately more seats than their percentage of votes. But the “Big Three” parties have been served well by our current electoral system and have never had a will to change it. Now, with the new Conservative government’s elimination of per vote subsidies, it is much harder for minor parties to get to the level where they can even talk about election reform. We hope that Liberals think of this when selecting a new leader, and I look forward to meeting with any political party who will champion election reform. By removing ourselves from this election, we hope there is one more voice elected to parliament who will fight for progress within the electoral system that Canadians are asking for.”

The Pirate Party stands with the Green Party in it’s call for the NDP to back out of this race. The odds of being elected are minimal for the NDP and it only increases the chance of another Conservative seat. With the Conservative Party of Canada alleged robocalls and MPs reported to have skirted Elections Canada spending limits, it is important to send a message that it should not be politics as usual. The best way to accomplish that is to make sure Conservative are not re-elected in this by-election. The issue of electoral reform and not tolerating any form of electoral fraud or voters disenfranchisement, whether it is organized or not, is very vital to our democracy. All parties should make it their top priority to make sure electoral reform becomes a major issue.

Although we will not be running in this election, it does not mean we fully support the Liberals, NDP, or the Greens. The Liberal party was the original sponsor of the Internet Surveillance Act (Bill C-74), which attempts to introduce surveillance law that bypasses judicial oversight. The current government attempt to re-introduce the “Lawful Access” act (Bill C-30) was fortunately defeated amidst large public outcry through social medias. NDP Leader, Thomas Mulclair, has recently expressed possible support for the Canadian European Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), similar to Transpacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA), a damaging anti-democratic treaty that will give our sovereignty over to for-profit multinational corporations. This essentially gives them veto power over our existing law. The Pirate Party of Canada differs from other major parties in that we want to see a genuine proactive open and transparent government to upgrade our democracy for the twenty-first century. Our party wants to do it by taking advantage of new technology to get the electorate more involved and listen to them even after an election. We want to introduce innovative solutions to current copyright and patent gridlock. We want all parties to work for Canadians, not their backbench power brokers, U.S. copyright and patent lobbyist, or their illegal corporate donor. The Pirate Party wants to see more Canadians have access to affordable democratizing tool of internet technology that is on par , if not surpassing, other developed countries. We want a competitive business climate which fosters free enterprise instead of encouraging or protecting the large market shares of coporations.More competition in businesses is good for Canadian consumers and entrepreneurs, while more choices in politics is good for democracy.

The Pirate Party has the issues on it’s side, and we won’t be giving up just because we are smaller. However, neither will we hurt ourselves by running in every single by-election. If you are in Labrador, or anywhere else, and want to support the Pirate Party we encourage you to check out our new free membership drive at http://pirateparty.ca/helpus as we are looking for signatures to keep our party status with Elections Canada.

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The Pirate Party is a pro-internet, pro-transparency, anti-corruption party which strives to protect Canadian’s civil liberties both online and off. For questions, comments, or concerns please email [email protected]

———— French Version —————-

TORONTO - Le Parti Pirate ne se présentera pas à l’élection partiel de la circonsription de Labrador en protestation contre un system électoral défectueux. Nous sommes déçu par les positions du Parti Libéral sur plusieurs questions, telles que la réforme du système de droits d’auteur, la représentation proportionelle, et les libertés civiles. Nous croyons également que non seulement le Parti conservateur ne représente pas les valeurs canadiennes tel que nous les voyons, il étrangle les partis mineurs comme le nôtre. Ce système limite notre habileté, ainsi que celle des autre petits partis, de mener une campagne réussie. Le Parti Pirate ne divise pas le vote, parce qu’un vote pour nous c’est un vote pour la politique du 21ème siècle et les libertés civiles, en ligne ou non. Malheureusement, nous devons accepter que plusieurs Canadiens sont obligés à voter stratégiquement et non pour leur candidat préféré en raison du système majoritaire à un tour.

“Il y a quelque chose qui ne va pas quand les Canadiens sont coincés avec un gouvernement majoritaire élu par moins de 30% d’entre eux,” selon le nouveau chef du Parti Pirate, Travis McCrea. “Le parti vert a trop peu de sièges, et le parti conservateur en a trop. Mais les trois grand partis actuels sont avantagés par le système électoral en place et n’ont jamais eu la volonté de le changer. Maintenant, avec l’élimination du financement public des partis politiques, il est plus difficile pour les partis mineurs de s’élever au niveau politique requis pour discuter de la réforme électorale. Nous espérons que le parti Libéral considèrera la question lorsqu’un nouveau chef sera choisi, et j’ai espoir de discuter avec n’importe quel parti qui voudra supporter la réforme électorale. En nous retirant de cette élection, nous espérons qu’une voix de plus sera élue au parlement afin de se battre pour le progrès que les Canadiens demandent.”

Le Parti Pirate supporte le Parti Vert dans son appel au NPD de quitter la course. Les chances d’être élus sont minimes pour le NPD, et leur présence ne fait qu’augmenter les probabilités d’une victoire du parti Conservateur. Il est important que les allégations d’appels trompeurs et que plusieurs ministres auraient dépassé les limites de dépenses électorales d’Élections Canada ne soient pas considérées comme acceptables en politique. La meilleure façon de faire passer ce message est de s’assurer que les Conservateurs ne soient pas élus de nouveau dans cette élection partielle. La question de réforme électorale et la dénonciation de fraude électorale ou de privation du droit électoral, qu’elle soit délibérée ou non, est absolument vitale pour notre démocratie. Chaque parti devrait faire en sorte que la réforme électorale soit une priorité majeure.

Même si nous ne participeront pas à cette élection, il ne faut pas y voir un support des Libéraux, du NPD, ou du Parti Vert de la part du Parti Pirate. Le Parti Libéral était à l’origine d’un essai (heureusement infructueux) de réintroduire une loi de surveillance qui contournait la supervision judiciaire. Le Nouveau Parti Démocratique de Thomas Mulcair a récemment exprimé un support possible en faveur de l’Accord Économique et Commercial Global (AECG), similaire à l’Accord de Partenariat Trans-Pacifique, une loi anti-démocratique qui réduit notre souveraineté et donne du pouvoir aux corporations multinationales. Cet accord leur donne, en bref, un droit de veto sur nos lois actuelles. Le Parti Pirate du Canada se dossocie des partis majeurs par son désir de voir une amélioration authentique et proactive de notre démocratique pour le vingt-et-unième siècle. Notre parti planifie y arriver par l’entremise de nouvelles technologies afin d’impliquer l’électorat plus justement, et d’écouter son opinion même après une élection. Nous voulons proposer de nouvelles solutions aux problèmes de droits d’auteur et du système de brevets. Nous voulons que tous les partis travaillent pour les Canadiens, et non pour leurs fournisseurs cachés, des lobbyistes du système de brevets de droits d’auteur américains, ou de leurs donateurs illégaux. Le Parti Pirate désire voir plus de Canadiens ayant accès à des outils de démocratisation de l’Internet qui sont égaux, sinon supérieurs à ceux des autres pays industrialisés. Nous voulont un climat d’affaires compétitif et qui favorise la libre entreprise, plutôt que la protections d’oligopoles.

Le Parti Pirate a ses problèmes, et nous n’abandonnons pas seulement parce que nous sommes plus petits. Néanmoins, nous ne blesseront pas notre parti en participant à toutes les élections. Si vous êtes au Labrador, ou n’importe où ailleurs, et que vous désirez supporter le Parti Pirate, nous vous encourageons à participer à notre campagne de recrutement gratuite au https://www.pirateparty.ca/helpus, puisque nous sommes à la recherche de signatures afin de garder notre status de parti politique auprès d’Élections Canada.

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Le Parti Pirate est un parti en faveur d’Internet, de la transparence, qui s’oppose à la corruption, et qui vise à protéger les libertés civiles canadiennes en ligne, et hors ligne. Prière d’écrire à [email protected] avec vos questions ou commentaires.


Comments

2 comments for Pirate Party Saves, Gains +2 Strength Next Election

  1. A Name commented at

    Dropping out of a race isn’t a solution; parties shouldn’t “back out” to lose funding and influence and recognition. Neither is “strategic voting” and game theory, because people aren’t voting for what they want. The only solution is electoral reform and democracy, and I don’t know how to get there, especially with less funding.

    I respect the Pirate Party for analyzing the problem pragmatically, and choosing a solution it believes in. I hope the national campaign can still raise issue awareness in Labrador.

    • Concerned Citizen commented at

      While we realize that backing out is a last resort and people are going to engage in strategic voting because they’re going to be generally voting against something (either the Liberal party because they’re conservatives or against The Harper Government and their abuses). Also we have to be realistic as a small party we cannot afford to go chasing after every single by-election that comes to pass.

      What we are focusing on will be the General Election that is due for 2015. We will be running with a platform that features electoral reform and some sort of proportional representation. No government should get 55% of the seats while only securing 35% of the popular vote.

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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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