This thesis marks the first attempt to systematically study Canadian minor parties. Minor
parties, as distinct from third parties, are those that acquire less than 5 percent of the
national vote (usually much less than one percent) and have never sent an MP to Ottawa.
We know little about parties as a group except that their numbers have steadily
proliferated over the last 20 years and that this growth shows no signs of abating. The
goal of this paper is fill the knowledge gap surrounding minor parties and to assess the
health of electoral democracy in Canada.
Specifically, nine minor parties are studied through the experiences of their
candidates during the 1993 federal election. The findings presented are based on data
collected from government sources and on surveys and interviews administered to a
sample of minor party candidates who ran in the greater Vancouver area.
The dissemination of political beliefs not represented in mainstream politics was
the dominant reason candidates gave for participating in elections. Winning is a long term
ambition, but not expected in the short run for the majority of parties. Despite their
modest aims, minor parties and candidates are unduly fettered in their ability to effectively
compete in elections and communicate with the public. Minor party campaigns typically
have scant political resources, including money, time and workers; electoral laws —
concerning registration thresholds, broadcasting time allotments and campaign
reimbursements — designed to promote fairness, disadvantage the system's weakest players; and subtle biases on the part of the press, debate organizers and potential donors
close important channels of communication.
Of these factors, money emerged as the most important, with media exposure — or
the lack of it — a close second in terms of determining a party's competitiveness. The
National Party, with superior resources, was often an exception to the above
characterization, but ultimately, media neglect sealed its fate as a marginal party.
Notwithstanding the great odds facing minor parties, winning is not impossible given the
right alignment of factors. The Reform Party did it in 1993, providing other small parties
with hope and an example to follow.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:BVAU.2429/4575 |
| Date | 11 1900 |
| Creators | Drukier, Cindy Carol |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Relation | UBC Retrospective Theses Digitization Project [http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/retro_theses/] |
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