They might never win an election — so what keeps a fringe party alive? - National | Globalnews.ca - Rachel Browne:
October 14, 2019 - "Four rescue cats roam the offices of the Animal Protection Party of Canada ... one of more than a dozen registered political parties in Canada running this election against the established parties like the Liberals, Conservatives and the NDP. But the odds are stacked against them and they likely won’t win. Some have been around for more than 30 years and have never come close to winning a single seat....
"There are currently 21 federal political parties registered with Elections Canada — the highest number ever. Eight became registered this year in time for the election, including the more well-known People’s Party of Canada (PPC), and other much smaller ones such as the Stop Climate Change party and Canada’s Fourth Front. The emergence of the far-right National Citizens Alliance of Canada and the Canadian Nationalist Party, both of which became registered this year, has prompted criticism from anti-hate groups who say this points to the problems with letting anyone register a federal party, regardless of their ideology....
"The PPC, led by former Conservative MP Maxime Bernier, calls itself the fastest-growing new political party in Canada with more than 300 candidates running in the 338 federal ridings in just a year since it was founded. Bernier also got himself into the federal leaders’ debates, after initially being rejected, due to the high number of candidates running and after successfully arguing that at least more than one had a reasonable chance of winning.
"Coreen Corcoran, president of the Libertarian Party of Canada who is running in the Ottawa-Centre riding last held by Liberal MP Catherine McKenna, said the popularity and ideals of the PPC resulted in the loss of many potential candidates for her party. 'A couple years ago, our plan was to run 388 [candidates] in this year’s election,' she said in an interview. 'Then the PPC came on board. They had a direct hit on our party, absolutely a direct hit. Because Maxime Bernier was, to many libertarians, a libertarian guy.' Corcoran said that the draw of Bernier coupled with the way his ideas encompassed some libertarian values made it appealing to a lot of those who had previously allied themselves with her party.
"She added that this election will be important in determining the future of her party, which is running a couple dozen candidates this year on a platform that champions a 'free market economy where entrepreneurs and employees can flourish.' A lot depends on the success of the PPC. 'If they do well, then it may hurt us again. If they don’t do well, I think it could end up helping us,' Corcoran said. 'It could have people coming back to us, people finding us. Who knows.'
"But the growth and momentum seen by the PPC is rare for a new party..... A significant barrier for smaller parties is Canada’s first-past-the-post (FPTP) electoral regime, in which the candidate who gets the highest number of votes wins the right to represent that riding in the House of Commons. But candidates do not need an absolute majority — more than 50 per cent of votes — in order to win. FPTP can also encourage strategic voting, where voters may cast a ballot for the candidate who is more likely to defeat another candidate they dislike, rather than cast a ballot for the candidate they would actually prefer....
"As for the potential to end up with a seat in the House of Commons, Carleton University political science professor Jon Pammett said the Green Party can serve as a model. Though the Green Party was registered in 1984, leader Elizabeth May secured the party’s first seat nearly 30 years later in 2011. Paul Manly secured its second seat in May, along with significant gains made by the party’s provincial counterparts.... Pammett added that ideologies held by the parties like the Greens can also be taken up by the bigger parties ... depending on how popular they are among voters."
Read more: https://globalnews.ca/news/6016479/federal-election-fringe-parties/
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October 14, 2019 - "Four rescue cats roam the offices of the Animal Protection Party of Canada ... one of more than a dozen registered political parties in Canada running this election against the established parties like the Liberals, Conservatives and the NDP. But the odds are stacked against them and they likely won’t win. Some have been around for more than 30 years and have never come close to winning a single seat....
"There are currently 21 federal political parties registered with Elections Canada — the highest number ever. Eight became registered this year in time for the election, including the more well-known People’s Party of Canada (PPC), and other much smaller ones such as the Stop Climate Change party and Canada’s Fourth Front. The emergence of the far-right National Citizens Alliance of Canada and the Canadian Nationalist Party, both of which became registered this year, has prompted criticism from anti-hate groups who say this points to the problems with letting anyone register a federal party, regardless of their ideology....
"The PPC, led by former Conservative MP Maxime Bernier, calls itself the fastest-growing new political party in Canada with more than 300 candidates running in the 338 federal ridings in just a year since it was founded. Bernier also got himself into the federal leaders’ debates, after initially being rejected, due to the high number of candidates running and after successfully arguing that at least more than one had a reasonable chance of winning.
"Coreen Corcoran, president of the Libertarian Party of Canada who is running in the Ottawa-Centre riding last held by Liberal MP Catherine McKenna, said the popularity and ideals of the PPC resulted in the loss of many potential candidates for her party. 'A couple years ago, our plan was to run 388 [candidates] in this year’s election,' she said in an interview. 'Then the PPC came on board. They had a direct hit on our party, absolutely a direct hit. Because Maxime Bernier was, to many libertarians, a libertarian guy.' Corcoran said that the draw of Bernier coupled with the way his ideas encompassed some libertarian values made it appealing to a lot of those who had previously allied themselves with her party.
"She added that this election will be important in determining the future of her party, which is running a couple dozen candidates this year on a platform that champions a 'free market economy where entrepreneurs and employees can flourish.' A lot depends on the success of the PPC. 'If they do well, then it may hurt us again. If they don’t do well, I think it could end up helping us,' Corcoran said. 'It could have people coming back to us, people finding us. Who knows.'
"But the growth and momentum seen by the PPC is rare for a new party..... A significant barrier for smaller parties is Canada’s first-past-the-post (FPTP) electoral regime, in which the candidate who gets the highest number of votes wins the right to represent that riding in the House of Commons. But candidates do not need an absolute majority — more than 50 per cent of votes — in order to win. FPTP can also encourage strategic voting, where voters may cast a ballot for the candidate who is more likely to defeat another candidate they dislike, rather than cast a ballot for the candidate they would actually prefer....
"As for the potential to end up with a seat in the House of Commons, Carleton University political science professor Jon Pammett said the Green Party can serve as a model. Though the Green Party was registered in 1984, leader Elizabeth May secured the party’s first seat nearly 30 years later in 2011. Paul Manly secured its second seat in May, along with significant gains made by the party’s provincial counterparts.... Pammett added that ideologies held by the parties like the Greens can also be taken up by the bigger parties ... depending on how popular they are among voters."
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