Animal Alliance Environment Voters Party of Canada
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| Animal Alliance Environment Voters Party of Canada | |
|---|---|
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| Active Federal Party | |
| Founded | 2005 |
| Leader | Liz White |
| President | |
| Headquarters | 101–221 Broadview Avenue Toronto, Ontario M4M 2G3 |
| Political ideology | Animal rights activism, Environmentalism |
| International alignment | none |
| Colours | Forest Green |
| Seats | 0 House, 0 Senate |
| Website | http://www.environmentvoters.org |
The Animal Alliance Environment Voters Party of Canada is a minor registered political party in Canada. It was formed by two organizations, the Animal Alliance of Canada and Environment Voters. The latter had previously been organized as a subsidiary of the former.
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[edit] Ideology
The party’s program is centred on animal rights and environmentalism; it generally takes a more radical position on the latter than that taken by the Green Party of Canada, the party best known for organizing around that issue.
Both parent organizations have been particularly vocal in the past opposing the seal hunt in Newfoundland and Labrador, and AA/EV is currently urging an international boycott of Canadian seafood. Other causes have included opposition to the use of animals in scientific research, fur farming and trapping, and bear hunting.
[edit] Influence of electoral law
The party was formed as a result of laws restricting political advocacy by “third parties” (i.e., organizations that are not registered by Elections Canada as political parties) during election campaigns. AA/EV intends to use its status as a political party to circumvent that restriction by running a sole candidate, thus allowing it to promote its views during election periods.[1]
Though the party is nominally running a single candidate in order to entitle it to political-party status, its role in most ridings is to endorse a major-party candidate which it sees as promoting the organization’s views. Its free-time political ads specifically endorsed the New Democratic Party, counter-balanced by the statement you “could” vote for AA/EV leader Liz White in Toronto Centre. [2]
Canadian electoral laws hinder abuse of this loophole by setting campaign spending limits for parties that are proportional to the number of voters in the electoral districts where the a party is running candidates. Because the Animal Alliance Environment Voters Party of Canada is running only one candidate, it will only be permitted to spend $66,715.37, compared to the $18,225,260.74 limits granted to the major national parties. [3]
AAC and EV have in the past campaigned to elect candidates and parties with positions favourable to animal rights and the environment, respectively, and to oppose those with unfavourable positions. Since 1999, the groups claim to have participated in over 50 campaigns.
[edit] Election results
| Election | # of candidates | # of votes | % of popular vote | % in ridings run in |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 1 | 72 | 0.0005% | 0.12% |
| 2008 by-election | 1 | 123 | 0.51% | 0.51% |
During the March 17, 2008 by-election, the party managed to improve its vote share, despite low voter turnout.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Animal Alliance, official website
- http://www.environmentvoters.org/home.html
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