A SoCon Party? Worth considering.

John Pacheco proposes to establish a broad-based, "moderate" social conservative, populist party which would help pull and keep the CPC to the right. I think it's an idea that's worth considering. Thanks to the combination of a Supreme Court ruling (which had struck down the requirement for at least 50 candidates) and a "gag law" passed by the Liberals in 2003 which restricts political advertising during the election campaign, establishing a ghost party is the best way for the influence groups to raise funds while issuing tax receipts and to promote their cause once the election is called.

The animal rights activists have been using this loophole already with their Animal Alliance - Environment Voters Party. They only run one candidate in the past election, winning nothing but 72 votes. Yet this is a registered political party that is allowed to endorse and denounce candidates during the campaign with fewer restrictions than a "registered third party organization".

In our case, establishing a Social Conservative party would not only provide SoCons with funds and voice during the election campaign but it will strengthen the Social Conservative voice in the ridings that would otherwise have no SoCon candidate. It's known that Independent candidates don't get many votes unless they have exceptional name recognition in the riding. Having a party name on the ballot not only helps identifying one's political stand but it also presents the candidate as a member of a team. It will be a message to the voters that Social Conservatives are no longer lone players.

So in other words...

1) We need a handful of officers;

2) 250 confirmed electors;

3) Run 1 candidate in an election.

That's about it. There are some more administrative issues involved, but as far as involvement of interested parties, the above 3 conditions are all that is required. These conditions are not a big hurdle to overcome at all.

More >>>