Canada's small political parties will share around $500,000 after an Ontario Superior Court judge struck down a law that allowed federal parties to be paid $1.75 per vote they received only if they took more than two per cent of the vote.
The law ensured big political parties took home lots of public money after each election, but made votes for small parties worthless in a sense.
A challenge to the law was brought forward by a group of small parties, including the Canadian Action Party, the Christian Heritage Party, the Communist Party of Canada, the Green Party, the Marijuana Party and the Progressive Canadian Party.
Among them, only the Green Party took enough of the vote in the 2004 election — 4.3 per cent — to earn money for each ballot cast in its favour.
Funding needed to communicate to voters
In his reasons for the ruling, Judge P. Theodore Matlow wrote that the law violated the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
He noted that parties needed funding to make voters aware of their platforms and candidates, and said a voter needs that information in order to vote in a way that genuinely reflects his or her preferences.
He said the law made it difficult for members of small parties to "play a meaningful role in the electoral process."
I agree with this and hopefully it can generate more publicity for the smaller parties.
If the Bloc can be funded, so should the smaller parties.
Will the Harpercrites appeal the decision? I can't see any possible benefit for them to do so.
If anything an appeal will only garner them even more unfavourable publicity.. if that's even possible.
They are sinking and will sink faster once libs get a new leader and once the Bloc gets more support in the polls, there wil be an election and Harper and the rest of his toadies will get the boot.
Compared to past PM's Harper never really got thathuge bump in the polls after the election either. He went up a bit but has been falling ever since.
