Strengthening the Moral Rights of Authors

While the economic aspects of copyright is widely recognized to be damaging, the rights of an author to the attribution and integrity of their work are not. We will strengthen these rights and separate them from the economic considerations of copyright.

The following policies have been approved by the Political Council and will be sent to the membership to be voted on:

-An artist has the right to have their work attributed to them when used by another where it is reasonable to do so unless this right is waived by the artist.

 

-An artist has the right not to be associated with beliefs they find offensive through third party use of their work. A third party may be required, at the request of the artist, to include a disclaimer dissociating the artist from the third party using their work.

 

-The moral rights of an artist last for the lifetime of an artist. These rights may not be transferred to another but they may be permanently renounced if the artist chooses to do so.

 

Small Parties Say: Bill C-23 Must Not Pass

Date: Friday, April 11, 2014             

Time: 10:30 am                    

Place: Charles Lynch Room, Centre Block, Parliament Hill

Registered political parties without representation in the House of Commons are holding a press conference on Friday, April 11 at 10:30 am to present their views on Bill C-23.

The parties listed below will be participating. They are unanimous in their opposition to Bill C-23 and will outline both their commonly held reasons for opposing it and their particular concerns and objections. All the parties think the bill should be withdrawn in its entirety.

The parties without representation in the House of Commons represent citizens and residents who are among the most politically active members of the society. They articulate significant programs, concerns and demands addressing major problems facing Canadians, including proposals for democratic reforms.

All media is invited to attend.

For further information contact:

• Animal Alliance Environment Voters Party of Canada, 416-462-9541, www.environmentvoters.org{.extern}

• Canadian Action Party, 519-852-8279, www.actionparty.ca{.extern}

• Christian Heritage Party, 819-281-6686, 1-888-868-3247, www.chp.ca{.extern}

• Communist Party of Canada, 416-469-2446, www.communist-party.ca{.extern}

• Libertarian Party of Canada, 613-288-9089, www.libertarian.ca{.extern}

• Marijuana Party of Canada, 514-507-5188, www.marijuanaparty.ca{.extern}

• Marxist-Leninist Party of Canada, 416-253-4475, www.mlpc.ca{.extern}

• Party for Accountability, Competency and Transparency, 416-567-6913, www.onlineparty.ca{.extern}

• Pirate Party of Canada, (877) 978-2023, www.pirateparty.ca{.extern}

• Progressive Canadian Party, 905-853-8949, www.pcparty.org{.extern}

Fox Creek, AB – March 9th

On Thursday the Prime Ministers Office gave its official replies to questions submitted by MPs regarding salary disclosure of staffers within the PMO making between $150,000 and $300,000 annually.  Additionally, other government officials responded to Order Papers related to their departments, including an inquiry about software running on government computers. The PMO and government officials were less than forthcoming with information, aptly demonstrating the problem with relying on them to disclose information after the fact.

The Pirate Party of Canada considers the current systems that required specific requests to obtain information about government expenditures to be woefully lacking and open to abuse.  The Access to Information Act adds to this issue by allowing for long periods of time before responses to queries and subsequent data can be provided. With the current technological advancements that Canadians have access to, both of these issues can and should be dealt with in a proactive manner by automatically making spending figures publicly available online.

“In theory this would create no more work for bureaucrats than already exist. One would assume that they would need to enter the information on department spending at some point. Having the computer systems set up to automatically copy spending information to a public government website while removing private and personal information would be a relatively straight forward task”, says James Wilson, Leader of the Pirate Party of Canada. “Such a system would be more efficient and transparent. It would also be advantageous to the government by opening its spending up to the most thorough auditor of all; the Canadian public.”

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 .

Fox Creek, AB – February 14th

As independent MP Brent Rathgeber told the CBC on Tuesday, the proposed modifications to election laws will make running as an independent candidate even more difficult than it already is. The current system already stacks the odds against these types of candidates and the proposed changes significantly increase that difficulty. A hurdle that independent candidates already face is the requirement that all remaining funds at the end of the election must be surrendered to Elections Canada. This handicap is placed upon independent candidates alone and is not shared by candidates running under a party banner. As a result of this, while party candidates can retain these funds for the next election, independents are faced with having to rebuild their entire funding with each election.

Currently, elected MPs that take a public stand against their party, their leader, or their party’s position on any number of issues are left with a choice to make: leave their party, risk being ejected by their leadership for standing their ground, or backing down on the issue. With the proposed changes, and the current rules, MPs will find if even more burdensome to leave their party, whether by their own choice or not, and thereby further strengthening party discipline.

In response to these issues the Pirate Party of Canada has a solution. We propose a new system by which money raised by independent candidates before the end of an election will instead be held in trust by Elections Canada until the next Federal election. If the person runs again as an independent candidate, the money that is held in trust will be returned to them for use in their campaign. If the person decides not to run at all or runs  as a candidate under a party banner, the money held in trust will be forfeited to Elections Canada in whole. All interest accrued from money held by Elections Canada in the interim will belong to Elections Canada.

“With these changes, candidates will be able to compete on a more even playing field”, says James Wilson, Leader of the Pirate Party of Canada. “To be honest, if a race came down to an independent candidate and a Pirate candidate I would, of course, prefer the Pirate to be victorious. However, elections should be about which candidate has the platform most acceptable to the voters in their riding and not who has the rules stacked in their favour. Winning the race because you have an inherent advantage over your opponent is neither fair nor honourable.” The Pirate Party of Canada values the independent voices in Parliament, whether they’re independent by choice or by circumstance. We urge Parliament to work towards giving them a fair deal.

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 .