Independent Candidates Unite To Return The Democratic Process To Ordinary Citizens (www.democrat.ca)

PRLog (Press Release) - Aug 14, 2009 -
“First, I would like to thank all of you for participating in what we all hope will grow into something bigger. We are meeting, united in our view, that the domination of politics by the mainstream parties is undermining democracy in Canada. We do NOT expect that we will agree on all issues. But, we do agree that MPs should represent their constituents,” said John Richardson, who has been an Official Agent, and has run as an Independent Candidate at the municipal (technically everybody is an Independent), provincial and federal level.

“Independent Candidates have four choices; either they continue solo (lone wolf), or get together to help each other (association), or form a bottom-up political party that can be either ‘unregistered’ or ‘registered’ with Elections Canada. In all cases, we like to be able to facilitate attendees to bring their ideas, thoughts, and challenges, as well as alternative solutions to the issues that matter to their ridings; these issues must be communicated in advance in order to harvest a beneficial result and lay out a blue print for practical solutions, policies, and an action plan for a better government that works harder for the people.” Said Bahman Yazdanfar, who ran as a party candidate in Toronto – Danforth riding.

Yet, a new “party” isn't the only approach on the table. “I am very interested in the idea of a coalition (that may now be a bad word) of Independents. The purpose would be to meet, share ideas, share resources (including a possible common brand or logo) and yet respect and in fact promote each candidate's primary goal: representing the interests of his or her constituents. This would benefit all.  Independents make it harder for themselves by NOT being part of a larger whole. But, that larger whole may not have to be a party,” Richardson added.

“How is this to be done with a group of Independent Candidates? Will that group of people lose interest if they perceive that they will lose their independence? That's a lot of work, when it comes to the issues that are important to Canadians, whose needs and views vary so much from region to region. In this new structure (organization, association, or party), we'd respond to all ‘issue’ enquiries by Canadians with ‘well, we all have our personal opinion, and we're happy to tell you, but YOU, the people, will ultimately decide the issue’. We take Canadians’ issues seriously and would have to devote a lot of time to them," said Steve Garry, who has been attempting to register the Democracy Party of Canada as an official political party with Elections Canada.
 
Richardson continued, “The Democracy Party exists to promote a form of democracy where MPs understand that they are working for their constituents and NOT for Party Leaders. As such, the Democracy Party of Canada is a natural for Independent Candidates which by definition are not beholden to Party Leaders and rigid ‘top down’ party policies. Independent Candidates are the only candidates who by definition work for the voters and not for the established parties. Although it is not our main objective to register the Democracy Party of Canada with Elections Canada, this is an option that we will encourage our members to consider. As it stands now, as a non-registered party, the Democracy Party of Canada does NOT burden the taxpayers of Canada with any of its costs. Registered political parties receive money from you the taxpayers to fund their day-to-day operations. We don’t think that Canadian taxpayers should be forced to contribute to political parties. Shouldn’t democracy be tax free?”

For more information visit:
http://www.independentcandidates.ca
http://www.democrat.ca
http://www.bahmanyazdanfar.com

Photo:
http://www.prlog.org/10310467/1