RM>> That is why we in Canada have 3 main parties, a strong Right, a strong Left
  >> and a medium one, although the far left doesn't seem to get many of the
  >> votes.

MP>Unfortunately, our two main parties -- Republican and Democrat -- have
  >things under control in most states that make it very, very difficult for a
  >third party to get on the ballot and/or to have access to public funds
  >and/or have access to debates and other "public access" that they have.

MP>You usually have to have a lot of money and be able to get X% of the vote
  >in the state before you can be considered for any of those things.  In
  >some/many cases, just getting on the ballot requires you have a petition
  >turned in, with X number of registered voters signing, before you can even
  >get on a ballot and start trying for X% of the vote.

Yes. I guess our systems are a little different. We always have a few
minor parties as well as the top 3, like the Green party who is all
about reducing pollution and such but they are lucky to get one or
two seats in parliament. That and the French parties out of Quebec.

There are still some hoops to jump through to get on the ballot
and then you have to win in enough areas to get a minimum number
of seats to get Party Status, which our far Left party lost last
election. (You need at least 12 seats out of the total of 343)
But they are still there voting on things since they did win in
a few (7?) ridings so the benefit of Status is a bit confusing.
Obviously there must be some other benefits like funding and
maybe the ability to even introduce a question or Bill at all
in the House of Commons.

But getting on a ballot is not that difficult as there is a group
messing with the bi-election where Poilievre, the leader of our
Conservative Party, is trying to win a seat after losing his own
riding in the recent election.

Anyways, this group has managed to get over 200 names on the ballot
there (I assume running as Independants) to try to confuse the issue..
You don't need much other than being legal to run in Canada and,
depending on the riding, you need 50 or 100 signatures of residents
wanting you to run there.
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 * SLMR Rob  * If something goes without saying, LET IT!
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