Fox Creek, AB – May 9th
On Wednesday Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau announced that all future party candidates would be expected to vote pro-choice in Parliament and he will not be signing the nomination papers of candidates that refuse to agree to do so. Currently voting on this issue is a matter of conscience. The Pirate Party of Canada views Trudeau’s actions as a further tightening of party discipline in Canada.
It is also an open question how Trudeau intends to enforce this if MP Michael Chong’s caucus reform bill passes. Chong’s reform bill takes candidate confirmation out of the party leader’s hands and gives it to the local riding associations. If Trudeau is aware of this it may be a hint he intends to oppose the reform bill. The Pirate Party’s policy is to have a suggested way of voting for our MPs but not to whip the vote. Instead we will seek consensus through open and honest debate.
“I can understand Trudeau’s desire to have everyone ‘sing from the same hymn book’ on an issue vital to their party. If a Pirate Party candidate stated that they supported tighter intellectual property laws or increased government surveillance I’d have a hard time signing their nomination papers. However, if the membership said that is the candidate they wanted I would bow to their judgement. Ultimately party policy should be directed by the membership, not the party leader”, says James Wilson, Leader of the Pirate Party of Canada. “As well, there is a real danger for parties in requiring ideological purity; the party becomes an echo chamber repeating back the same view. It is the dissenting voices challenging the prevailing view that creates debate and growth. It is sad the Liberal party may slowly be losing this”.
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 .