Pirate Party of Canada Fights First-Ever Election Campaign

[Torrasque]

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

With a small party like this, they don't need to express concerns about abortion, same sex marriage, taxes, and all that crap. They just want representation in parliament, and then they can work on the rest.

The Green Party is kind of like that, except they actually have a whole platform. Its not all "PLANTS ARE GOOD! TAXES ARE WIN! WOOOO!!!!!"
Thats why if you don't want to vote at all, vote Green party.
Why?
Because unlike the other parties, a single vote actually does help them alot, and they need the representation in parliament.

 

[Jake Daynes]

Actually, we're looking to eliminate software patents and reform the rest - this was a misquote on the part of the source article.

Jake Daynes
Representative
Pirate Party of Canada

 

[Jake Daynes]

If you want to know about our plans, you can find our list of candidates here:

https://www.pirateparty.ca/about/candidates

If we have a candidate in your area you can contact them to find out the specifics of their platform.

Each candidate is expected to draft their own platform outside of the major Party ideology based on what their constituents want.

In other words, proper democracy. It's terrifying isn't it? To think that we might actually be on to something?

Jake Daynes
Official Representative
Pirate Party of Canada

 

[AlienCollective]

Fraud! Fraud I say!
The Ninja party has clearly been excluded!

How would you know? It's the ninja party. They wouldn't even appear on your ballot.

http://www.theonion.com/video/ninja-parade-slips-through-town-unnoticed-once-aga,14181/

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

Every one of our candidates has a comprehensive platform [http://mikkel.ca/platform/]. I talk about mine as much as I do about the party's. We are the only democratic political party in Canada, because our MPs can actually speak directly for their constituents.

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!

Done and done. Email me your mailing address and I'll send you a bumper sticker. [email protected]

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

Ireland had one briefly [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirate_Party_Ireland]. It doesn't anymore.

"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.

Then why do companies like Apple own thousands of patents? Do they really need their protection? What about huge pharmaceutical companies? They use patents to keep drug prices artificially high, keeping them out of the hands of the people who need them most and costing our health care system billions of dollars a year. Patents help small businesses? What about the entrepreneur who fights up through a saturated market on a great idea, only to be hit by a multimillion dollar patent lawsuit by someone who came up with a vaguely similar idea but couldn't be bothered to do anything about it?

No, patents are seriously broken.

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.

You'll excuse me if I don't shed a tear for poor big pharma. They pulled in record profits last year, yet somehow they still needed to scale back their research departments. Yes, a reasonable patent term would hurt them, and it would save the government over $3 billion. That buys a lot of medical research. Rather than throwing it at a middleman and somehow hoping that they'll turn it around and use the money how we want it to be used, wouldn't it make more sense to offer that money as research grants instead?

Thanks all for your interest.

Mikkel Paulson
Leader
Pirate Party of Canada [https://www.pirateparty.ca/]

 

[Space Jawa]

What about huge pharmaceutical companies? They use patents to keep drug prices artificially high, keeping them out of the hands of the people who need them most and costing our health care system billions of dollars a year.

I don't suppose you have any idea how much it costs to develop a new drug and bring it to the market, do you?

 

[AlienCollective]

I don't suppose you have any idea how much it costs to develop a new drug and bring it to the market, do you?

Like this? [http://abcnews.go.com/Health/WomensHealth/price-preventing-premature-births-skyrockets-drug/story?id=13104588]

 

[Kevonovitch]

considering who else we have, i'd rather vote the pirate party than anyone else :| atleast w/ harper we know what we're getting, w/ ignatieff all we get is bullshit and chips, followed suite by even more unbalanced budget, tax breaks for the rich that don't need one ever, and higher taxes, higher than they've been in the past. NPD (forgot the guys name) pretty much waste time and money on old systems that already don't work, and just a time and money sink, and throw everything into there. since green party and bloc have never had anything interesting to say, and i'll never even consider them real parties (sorry quebec, they don't cut it, you know this.) i don't even vote, but if i had to, either harper or pirate :|

 

[Bobbity]

I thought that they were in favour of piracy for a second, which caught me a little off guard...

 

[Space Jawa]

I don't suppose you have any idea how much it costs to develop a new drug and bring it to the market, do you?

Like this? [http://abcnews.go.com/Health/WomensHealth/price-preventing-premature-births-skyrockets-drug/story?id=13104588]

That doesn't exactly look like an answer to my question. Looks like a different issue to me.

 

[Jake Daynes]

I thought that they were in favour of piracy for a second, which caught me a little off guard...

That is part of the point - we got your attention didn't we?

Jake Daynes
Official Representative
Pirate Party of Canada

 

[Bobbity]

I thought that they were in favour of piracy for a second, which caught me a little off guard...

That is part of the point - we got your attention didn't we?

Jake Daynes
Official Representative
Pirate Party of Canada

Assuming you are who you say you are - this is the internet - then well done That was a damned effective way of grabbing my attention, and the party has a serious point when it says that change needs to happen, in the areas of digital copyright and privacy.

If I lived in Canada, I'd totally vote Pirate

 

[Jake Daynes]

Space

I don't suppose you have any idea how much it costs to develop a new drug and bring it to the market, do you?

Like this? [http://abcnews.go.com/Health/WomensHealth/price-preventing-premature-births-skyrockets-drug/story?id=13104588]

That doesn't exactly look like an answer to my question. Looks like a different issue to me.

Let me answer things a little clearer for you:

First [http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080105140107.htm]
Second [http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2004/jul/15/the-truth-about-the-drug-companies/]
and
Third [http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=5&ved=0CD8QFjAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pharmamyths.net%2Ffiles%2FBiosocieties_2011_Myths_of_High_Drug_Research_Costs.pdf&rct=j&q=pharma%20company%20reasearch%20cost&ei=L22dTffKMIfJgQerkbS2BA&usg=AFQjCNH0EMojy1ghTCzl6bWT0bIFZqj0sg&cad=rja]

Those three articles alone show that the whole idea of Pharma R&D costs are a myth.

 

[Jake Daynes]

I thought that they were in favour of piracy for a second, which caught me a little off guard...

That is part of the point - we got your attention didn't we?

Jake Daynes
Official Representative
Pirate Party of Canada

Assuming you are who you say you are - this is the internet - then well done That was a damned effective way of grabbing my attention, and the party has a serious point when it says that change needs to happen, in the areas of digital copyright and privacy.

If I lived in Canada, I'd totally vote Pirate

You can email me at [email protected] and verify that that is my email via a simple google search for Jake Daynes. I was at one point Marketing and PR Director for the Party, followed by Leader.

Cheers,
Jake Daynes

 

[AlienCollective]

That doesn't exactly look like an answer to my question. Looks like a different issue to me.

You're right, I don't have any stats for a single trial off the top of my head. I do know that Pfizer, the largest pharmaceutical company in the world, spends about 15% of its total revenue on research. At Pfizer's rates, and with $20 billion spent on drugs annually in Canada, $3 billion would go to R&D. We'd put significantly more of that into research, and consequently be able to shave billions off the health care budget while simultaneously dramatically increasing standards of care. The only people who stand to lose in the arrangement are the execs of the big pharmaceutical companies and their powerful friends.

Edit: Getting out of this thread now lest it look like an astroturf. If you're interested in speaking with me further, please do so [http://mikkel.ca/contact/].

 

[Aurgelmir]

I would suggest changing their Party name to something a little less loaded.

Consider that a lot of country are struggling with their ships being boarded by Pirates off the coast of Africa.
So even though the Pirate Party is referring to computer piracy, you can misunderstand the name.

Also Pirate is a loaded word when it comes to digital right laws also...

 

[Keith K]

I read their entire platform last week (among those of the 18 other registered parties.) If they had a candidate in my riding, I'd vote for them.

 

[Tipsy Giant]

Fraud! Fraud I say!
The Ninja party has clearly been excluded!

How would you know? It's the ninja party. They wouldn't even appear on your ballot.

http://www.theonion.com/video/ninja-parade-slips-through-town-unnoticed-once-aga,14181/

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

Every one of our candidates has a comprehensive platform [http://mikkel.ca/platform/]. I talk about mine as much as I do about the party's. We are the only democratic political party in Canada, because our MPs can actually speak directly for their constituents.

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!

Done and done. Email me your mailing address and I'll send you a bumper sticker. [email protected]

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

Ireland had one briefly [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirate_Party_Ireland]. It doesn't anymore.

"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.

Then why do companies like Apple own thousands of patents? Do they really need their protection? What about huge pharmaceutical companies? They use patents to keep drug prices artificially high, keeping them out of the hands of the people who need them most and costing our health care system billions of dollars a year. Patents help small businesses? What about the entrepreneur who fights up through a saturated market on a great idea, only to be hit by a multimillion dollar patent lawsuit by someone who came up with a vaguely similar idea but couldn't be bothered to do anything about it?

No, patents are seriously broken.

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.

You'll excuse me if I don't shed a tear for poor big pharma. They pulled in record profits last year, yet somehow they still needed to scale back their research departments. Yes, a reasonable patent term would hurt them, and it would save the government over $3 billion. That buys a lot of medical research. Rather than throwing it at a middleman and somehow hoping that they'll turn it around and use the money how we want it to be used, wouldn't it make more sense to offer that money as research grants instead?

Thanks all for your interest.

Mikkel Paulson
Leader
Pirate Party of Canada [https://www.pirateparty.ca/]

Couldn't have put it better myself!
The issue isn't about what will happen to business, the issue is that these areas of research were patentable in the first place.

Let me just leave this question in the air, if a pharmaceutical companies invented a cure for HIV, do you think they'd patent it?

 

[Macgyvercas]

If they existed in my country, I would totally vote for them.

 

[Rayne870]

Not to shit on the parade, but it's a waste of a vote and something we really don't need right now as a nation, the last thing we need is to make it easier for the coalition government to gain power.

 

[Celtic_Kerr]

SNIPPERS

The majority of those SOUND like nice plans. I would love to know what you "green plan" is as opposed to those that have not worked yet. For sure it'll be an uphill battle as as there are too few of you to gain TOO many seats, you'll have to fight to basically get a VAST voting basis on any changes you wish, but definitely sounds interesting.

I'm always willing to vote for a party with a fresh, viable, alternative plan that does something. The remnants of the old plans are the largest things blocking most of the ideas you have on that site. It's harder than one thinks to get rid of an old plan in order to implement the next.

I do wish you good luck in the running, but there is far more literature required before your party gains my vote