Pirate Party of Canada Fights First-Ever Election Campaign

[godofallu]

Wait why doesn't the US have a Pirate Party? Is it because we are too lazy, or because the corporations would stomp us into the ground in a week?

I want to vote for a pirate party. It's the only law I break occasionally, aside from speeding. With Pirating being legal my worries of financial ruin and forced suicide would be over.

 

[Fanghawk]

I don't want to know what you're doing about what YOU think is right. I want to know what you think about EVERYTHING. I don't JUST want your thoughts on net neutrality and everything, but what else do you plan to do to make this Country great?

Every time I've spoken to a Partie Quebecois supporter, and I ask them what they plan to do for Canada (because they're a federal partie), and all they do is say "seperate" okay... then what? "Um.... establish a government and laws and regulations and programs" how? "Well it's in the plan" ........ right.... That's all their focus on. the government would crumble if you spent every dollar trying to achieve just ONE goal

I can see the same thing with these people.... "What are your plan for the country?" "NET NEUTRALITY!" what else? "GAHHHHH!!!!!!!" I can see them fighting for THEIR ideals so hard, they ignore the rest

Canada runs on a parliamentary system, and these guys aren't running enough candidates to even dream of running the government. It's perfectly normal in parliamentary governments for parties with elected representatives to only support ONE narrow agenda.

In fact, I'd go so far as to say it's one of the benefits of a parliamentary system. It can allow you to get peoples opinions a voice in government even when the majour parties don't take the issue on. The more views represented in our government, the better, I say. That's the essence of democracy to me: making everyone's voices heard, if only a little.

On the one hand, I fully agree with you. This is an issue that deserves representation and serious discussion. On the other, their timing kinda stinks. One of the reasons we've needed three elections in five years is because there is no real united opposition to Harper and the Conservatives that the majority of voters can get behind. I'm a fairly non-political person, but from what I can see the majority do not support the Conservatives, but they haven't gone beyond the "Anyone But Harper" thought process we need to choose a realistic alternative. Adding another party to the mix just splits the opposing vote further.

I'm not saying a two-party system is any better, by the way. It's just that the more names you have on the ballot, the more likely you are to get a government in charge that the majority doesn't actually support. Sometimes that's fine, and people can get over it and run the country. Other times the government gets deadlocked, voters are left dissatisfied, and the only way to fix the problem is another election, and it's becoming increasingly clear that's where we are now.

In this case, not only will the Pirate Party have a hard time winning, they will be taking votes away from the people who would actually bring about the change in government that we needed two elections ago. But that's just the game we play.

 

[Formica Archonis]

Damn straight Paulson's got my vote. I wouldn't vote for Laurie Hawn if he paid me. (It helps that I'm a card-carrying Pirate Party member, but still, I wouldn't vote for Laurie Hawn!)

Im waiting to see if I get any free swag from one of the parties. I demand they give me free stuff so they can have my vote! Voting because I believe a group is responsible? Screw that, give me free stuff!

Free stuff, let's see.
The Pirate Party gave me some bumper stickers.
The Conservatives sent a letter to "Mr. J (my-last-name)" welcoming J to the riding. He was referred to as J throughout the letter. My name has no Js in it and I've lived in the riding for three years.
Liberals? Here? HA!

So, they're still leading in terms of swag.

In this case, not only will the Pirate Party have a hard time winning, they will be taking votes away from the people who would actually bring about the change in government that we needed two elections ago. But that's just the game we play.

Like who, the Liberals? They haven't shown themselves any more capable of running a government than Harper is and they haven't played the political game any better. That's how Harper's made this election look like their fault. Every party past the Liberals could be argued to be taking votes away from the relevant opposition.

Wait why doesn't the US have a Pirate Party? Is it because we are too lazy, or because the corporations would stomp us into the ground in a week?

From what I hear, the US makes it insanely hard to get a new party off the ground. The way it was explained to me, essentially there is no federal parties but rather alliances of state parties. What a new party has to do in Canada to become a federal party they have to do 50 times, once per state, and they've only been able to do a few so far [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Pirate_Party#State_parties].

 

[Irridium]

The Pirate Party of Canada is running on a platform of dramatic copyright reform in favor of artists and consumers, tightened privacy laws, an overhaul of patent laws that would see the elimination of patents in areas including software, pharmaceuticals and genetics, net neutrality and "open government." It has 11 candidates running in the current election, in British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec, and although the party says it's playing to win, it also acknowledges that it's an uphill battle.

This right here, specifically the bolded part, easily gets my vote. Or it would, if I lived in Canada.

I wish something like this would happen in the USA. But I doubt it will, considering the god damn stranglehold democrats and republicans have on everything.

 

[Formica Archonis]

The Pirate Party of Canada is running on a platform of dramatic copyright reform in favor of artists and consumers, tightened privacy laws, an overhaul of patent laws that would see the elimination of patents in areas including software, pharmaceuticals and genetics, net neutrality and "open government." It has 11 candidates running in the current election, in British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec, and although the party says it's playing to win, it also acknowledges that it's an uphill battle.

This right here, specifically the bolded part, easily gets my vote. Or it would, if I lived in Canada.

I wish something like this would happen in the USA. But I doubt it will, considering the god damn stranglehold democrats and republicans have on everything.

The sad thing is the international treaties we've signed make it really hard to enact some reforms. Like the fact that you can still hold copyright on something decades after you died.

 

[icame]

I'd vote for them...

 

[Nimbus]

Hell, Ireland should get one of these. All our parties are so well-hated that these guys could probably win a majority!

 

[Jumwa]

On the one hand, I fully agree with you. This is an issue that deserves representation and serious discussion. On the other, their timing kinda stinks. One of the reasons we've needed three elections in five years is because there is no real united opposition to Harper and the Conservatives that the majority of voters can get behind. I'm a fairly non-political person, but from what I can see the majority do not support the Conservatives, but they haven't gone beyond the "Anyone But Harper" thought process we need to choose a realistic alternative. Adding another party to the mix just splits the opposing vote further.

I'm not saying a two-party system is any better, by the way. It's just that the more names you have on the ballot, the more likely you are to get a government in charge that the majority doesn't actually support. Sometimes that's fine, and people can get over it and run the country. Other times the government gets deadlocked, voters are left dissatisfied, and the only way to fix the problem is another election, and it's becoming increasingly clear that's where we are now.

In this case, not only will the Pirate Party have a hard time winning, they will be taking votes away from the people who would actually bring about the change in government that we needed two elections ago. But that's just the game we play.

Well, I say it's a complicated issue. You may have a point about "wasting votes" but I think the issue there is better addressed by pushing for more of a direct representational system rather than our current first-past-the-post. If we divided up parliamentary seats not only based upon riding but upon equalizing with vote share, it wouldn't be an issue, in my opinion.

As long as more non-Conservative representatives are voted in, the opposition parties can form a mandate to govern. If the Liberal Party could work with the NDP after the next election they could potentially form the new government without either holding a majourity, and I would like to see it, personally. Minority governments have a way of forcing compromise between parties, which, on the whole, I think has a way of equalizing out and benefiting people more than a single party with the power to pass bills as they see fit until the next election.

As I see it: minority governments are held to a constant state of accountability; if they do something the parties they rely on for votes don't like, then they can push them out of office with a forced election.

I find it preferable to one party being locked in for years with a mandate to make whatever decisions they like with impunity. That is, until the next election rolls around and they start spending tax dollars to buy our votes and make us forget all the awful things they did in previous years.

That's my take on the issue, anyhow. : )

 

[Fanghawk]

In this case, not only will the Pirate Party have a hard time winning, they will be taking votes away from the people who would actually bring about the change in government that we needed two elections ago. But that's just the game we play.

Like who, the Liberals? They haven't shown themselves any more capable of running a government than Harper is and they haven't played the political game any better. That's how Harper's made this election look like their fault. Every party past the Liberals could be argued to be taking votes away from the relevant opposition.

Absolutely, the Liberals have their problems. But they also had a majority government for years. Voters decided for multiple terms that the Liberals, despite their faults, were the ones they wanted to represent them. But in the past three elections, the majority of voters didn't vote for the Conservatives. They threw in their lot with everyone but Harper, and the vote was too divided to keep his party from winning a minority government.

NDP Candidate Ryan Dolby pulled out of the campaign and switched his support to the Liberals for this reason. Voting for a party that is unlikely to win makes it possible for non-majority parties to win elections. Dolby is concerned that votes for NDP will create another Conservative government, perhaps even a majority. (<a href=http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canadavotes2011/story/2011/03/30/cv-election-ndp-dolby-145.html>Source) And that's the NDP; if the Pirate Party is only running 11 candidates there's no way they can win, and in minority government elections those votes make a huge difference.

Well, I say it's a complicated issue. You may have a point about "wasting votes" but I think the issue there is better addressed by pushing for more of a direct representational system rather than our current first-past-the-post. If we divided up parliamentary seats not only based upon riding but upon equalizing with vote share, it wouldn't be an issue, in my opinion.

As long as more non-Conservative representatives are voted in, the opposition parties can form a mandate to govern. If the Liberal Party could work with the NDP after the next election they could potentially form the new government without either holding a majourity, and I would like to see it, personally. Minority governments have a way of forcing compromise between parties, which, on the whole, I think has a way of equalizing out and benefiting people more than a single party with the power to pass bills as they see fit until the next election.

As I see it: minority governments are held to a constant state of accountability; if they do something the parties they rely on for votes don't like, then they can push them out of office with a forced election.

I find it preferable to one party being locked in for years with a mandate to make whatever decisions they like with impunity. That is, until the next election rolls around and they start spending tax dollars to buy our votes and make us forget all the awful things they did in previous years.

That's my take on the issue, anyhow. : )

That is the major benefit of minority governments, although the Conservatives have made it very hard to engage in these kind of discussions over the past five years. With a little luck, the balance will change this year, and voices like the Pirate Party will be able to speak up without getting drowned out by the rest of the noise.

 

[Antari]

Its a shame they don't have a candidate in my riding ... otherwise I'd consider voting for them.

 

[-Dragmire-]

sigh... I love my country

 

[Formica Archonis]

Absolutely, the Liberals have their problems. But they also had a majority government for years.

So did the Conservatives. Past performance is sadly no present indicator.

Voters decided for multiple terms that the Liberals, despite their faults, were the ones they wanted to represent them. But in the past three elections, the majority of voters didn't vote for the Conservatives. They threw in their lot with everyone but Harper, and the vote was too divided to keep his party from winning a minority government.

Unfortunately, there's no way around that unless some amazingly strong coalition building happens or we collapse back into a two-party system. But they seem incapable of the first and the second is likely impossible. Didn't Gilles Duceppe say something like, in reference to coalitions and the Bloc, "Everyone wants to sleep with us, but no one wants to marry us!"?

I suppose if a strong conservative alternative came along they could cause it to completely disintegrate.... Who knows, maybe the Wildrose Alliance will go national.

 

[thephich]

Now I don't think I could take their entire platform from 1 article, but I like what I hear. Now I don't think I'd want a them in a majority, but hell, someone who cares of digital and patent law would be SOOOO needed about now!

 

[Jumwa]

That is the major benefit of minority governments, although the Conservatives have made it very hard to engage in these kind of discussions over the past five years. With a little luck, the balance will change this year, and voices like the Pirate Party will be able to speak up without getting drowned out by the rest of the noise.

You're quite right. Things have not gone well in these past years. Harper has absolutely refused to play ball in parliamentary tradition, he has closed off and ended transparency in his government and behaved like a megalomaniac with a massive majourity in parliament. But he's been able to get away with it because Canadians resent going to the polls and rather than blame Harper for his heavy handed tactics, they've blamed the opposition for "making a fuss". It's a sad reality.

On the whole, however, the discussion of "stolen votes" makes me uncomfortable. I remember the long "Liberal reign", and they are not a party I would vote for. They were corrupt, and sat in office for an absurdly long time milking it to the detriment of Canadians. They broke their promises to my province repeatedly and I have almost as much contempt for them as I do Harper. Paul Martin was an anti-Canadian corporatist whose own shipping company paid no taxes to this country, and his successor Ignatieff is someone I knew to dislike long before he hit the political scene from tales of him in academia.

If I couldn't vote for the NDP, a party who I think has a genuine chance to shape politics in this country (if people could only let go of the idea that a vote for them was wasted; though despite that, they already have and hold significant sway in parliamentary affairs), I'd toss in with another third party. And if I only had a choice between Liberal and Conservative, well... let's just say the temptation would be great to just join the ever growing masses of disenfranchised voters who feel it's all pointless.

I know I'm not alone in that feeling. So would bumping these alternative parties really help the anti-Conservative agenda? Hard to say. I know a lot of people who say they only vote because of the Green Party, and wouldn't vote at all if not for them. I'm sure plenty of people are only motivated to vote because a specific party or candidate really grabbed them by supporting a cause they truly believe in, take that away and they stay home election day.

I want Harper gone as much as most Canadians seem to, however, the Liberals didn't run this country well by any measure, so I feel it's time to try something new. As Rick Mercer said "They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. And unfortunately, it is also the definition of politics in Canada."

 

[Orry]

[

If I couldn't vote for the NDP, a party who I think has a genuine chance to shape politics in this country (if people could only let go of the idea that a vote for them was wasted; though despite that, they already have and hold significant sway in parliamentary affairs), I'd toss in with another third party. And if I only had a choice between Liberal and Conservative, well... let's just say the temptation would be great to just join the ever growing masses of disenfranchised voters who feel it's all pointless.

I'm going to guess you haven't seen what the NDP have done to Nova Scotia lately, if their federal equivalent is even half as bad they're the last people you would ever want to entrust leadership of a country to.

They haven't created jobs here, they've completely and utterly destroyed them, raised the PST(note, something they specifically said they would not do), shut down a major ferry route which brought a lot of business to the South Shore and other acts of general madness.

So, I definitely do not support the NDP, frankly, I believe both the Liberals and Conservatives to be far better parties.

 

[Jumwa]

I'm going to guess you haven't seen what the NDP have done to Nova Scotia lately, if their federal equivalent is even half as bad they're the last people you would ever want to entrust leadership of a country to.

They haven't created jobs here, they've completely and utterly destroyed them, raised the PST(note, something they specifically said they would not do), shut down a major ferry route which brought a lot of business to the South Shore and other acts of general madness.

So, I definitely do not support the NDP, frankly, I believe both the Liberals and Conservatives to be far better parties.

There's very little overlap between federal and provincial parties. I've voted Conservative provincially in the last few elections but I wouldn't dream of doing so federally. Out east here, the provincial Conservatives tend to be old Red-Tory types, whereas the federals are all neo-Conservatives now.

Likewise, I dislike the provincial NDP we have here in Newfoundland. They've been ineffective and often totally misguided and nonsensical in their approach. However, on the federal scene I've respected the parties policies and stands, they have spoken up on issues that matter to me and have opposed legislation I'm against. And, as I said, at least it'd be trying something new for once.

 

[RelexCryo]

"The Pirate Party of Canada is running on a platform of dramatic copyright reform in favor of artists and consumers, tightened privacy laws, an overhaul of patent laws that would see the elimination of patents in areas including software, pharmaceuticals and genetics, net neutrality and "open government."

With all due respect, the elimination of patents is idiotic. Patents actually favor small bussinesses, not large bussinesses. Large bussinesses have marketing, investors, huge employee bases, and massive manufacturing centers. Small bussinesses only- I repeat, ONLY- have their patented ideas. Take that away from them, and big bussiness will have everything. It is true small bussiness with be able to use the ideas of big bussiness...but big bussiness will also be able to steal the ideas of small bussiness. And big bussiness has many, many advantages other than their patents...whereas patented ideas are the only advantage small companies have.

 

[Space Jawa]

I see nothing in the story about anyone in this party sailing the open seas and stealing cargo. These people have absolutely no business calling themselves "Pirates".

that would see the elimination of patents in areas including software, pharmaceuticals and genetics

Which would in turn no doubt see the elimination of major software, pharmaceutical, and genetics innovations in Canada. Possibly the death of those industries in the country all together. I can't possibly imagine how that's a good thing.