A GUIDE TO LESSER- KNOWN PARTIES
Nineteen parties from across the political spectrum are registered with Elections Canada. Some will never be invited to appear on a televised debate. Here are a few of the lesserknown choices. Just don’t call them fringe.
The party: Animal Alliance Environment Voters Party of Canada The issue: Cosmetic testing on animals Their take: “European countries began implementing bans on testing cosmetics on animals in 1998. The ban went EU wide in 2009. In 2013, the EU is scheduled to stop the importation and sale of cosmetics that have been tested on animals outside of the EU. If the EU politicians can end the cruelty of testing cosmetics on animals, so can Canadian politicians.”
The party: Canadian Action Party The issue: Debt Their take: “The private bankers admitted to being the cause (of) the Great Depression of 1929 and now they have gone and done it again in 2008 with the derivatives scandal. The next depression is coming very soon, according to some experts, and it is going to be a very bad one with predictions it will lead to another world war!”
The party: Christian Heritage Party Canada The issue: Children and youth Their take: “From preschool to puberty and through the college years, today’s young Canadians are under assault like never before. Pornography, secular humanism, peer pressure and social values imposed by the education establishment have pushed many young people into premature sexual relationships, drug dependency and suicides.”
The party: Communist Party of Canada The issue: The income gap Their take: “This global crisis is not only about government policies — it is about capitalism itself. It is time that capitalism and exploitation was replaced with a new system — socialism, a society based on full democracy, human equality, and environmental sustainability, in which the resources and economic wealth are owned and controlled by the working people, not by corporate bosses.”
The party: The Marxist-Leninist Party of Canada The issue: Election participation Their take: “Who will define the change which is required and who will occupy the space for change? These are the fundamental questions of the day and they require answers that favour the people of this country, not the rich and their foreign masters.”
The party: Party for Accountability, Competency and Transparency The issue: Governance Their take: “Elected officials must undergo formal training pertaining to the administration of public affairs and write periodic exams before and during their mandate in Parliament. There will be no prerequisites, so any citizen still qualifies to be elected.”
The party: The Bridge Party of Canada The issue: Political reform Their take: “The Bridge Party holds that in order to affect the transition from a long incubation to a mature democracy, politicians must give up on their will-to-power, trade it in for a more administrative role and that we individuals must give up a part of the negative freedom to attend to our own business. In order to affect a transition to a mature democratic system we must be prepared to take far more responsibility for the laws and rules by which we will be governed.”
Here’s a list of all 19 registered parties:
Animal Alliance Environment Voters Party of Canada Bloc Québécois Canadian Action Party Christian Heritage Party of Canada Communist Party of Canada Conservative Party of Canada Forces et Démocratie Green Party of Canada Liberal Party of Canada Libertarian Party of Canada Marijuana Party Marxist-Leninist Party of Canada New Democratic Party Party for Accountability, Competency and Transparency Pirate Party of Canada Progressive Canadian Party Rhinoceros Party The Bridge Party of Canada United Party of Canada