Collaborative Proposal Creation
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Proposal text
Whereas greens recognize that the link between an individual's political influence and financial status must be diminished for the good of the democratic process; and
Whereas many citizens do not have any disposable income to influence politics with a donation, and whereas the Green party of Canada believes each citizen should have equal financial influence over the Canadian political system; and whereas offering voters the option to seperate their vote from their donations is fairer than the per vote funding model, by not forcing strategic voters to fund a party they feel forced to vote for; and whereas the privacy of a citizen's funding identity is available using zero knowledge proofs and other methods;
Be it resolved that the Green party of Canada favours a political donation system that allows each citizen exclusively an annual fixed government funded donation to their party or electoral district association of choice.
And be it further resulved that an additional donation to an electoral candidate of choice will be an option for each citizen and the assignment of funds must be secure and transparent, while respecting the privacy of the funding citizen.
Type of Proposal
Public policy that the party would represent
Objective / Benefit
- Create a fairer political system
- Implement a funding system that is demonstrably better than the per vote funding model.
If your proposal replaces an existing policy or policies, which one does it replace?
This Policy would Replace G14-P03 Public Financing of Political Parties
List any supporting evidence for your proposal
How this proposed funding model is better that the per vote subsidy:
Strategic voting is a reality in Canada under FPTP. Example: wherever voters would prefer to vote green but greens are running at 2 or 3 percent and the liberals and conservatives are tied, voters vote red in order to defeat the conservative in the riding. But under the current policy of the per vote subsidy, that voter would *also* be forced to subsidize the liberal party. With this policy proposal in place the will of the voter is better expressed. Voter funding privacy is assured by zero knowledge proofs, see: https://hackernoon.com/zero-knowledge-proofs-in-blockchain-voting
Equality and Inclusivity: The current political donation system primarily benefits individuals or groups with disposable income, creating an unequal playing field. By providing an equal government-funded donation to every citizen, regardless of their financial status, the proposed system promotes equality and inclusivity in the political process.
Amplifying Diverse Voices: Financial constraints often prevent marginalized groups and individuals with lower incomes from participating see attached
Does this proposal affect any particular group and what efforts have been made to consult with the group or groups?
Jurisdiction: Is this proposal under federal jurisdiction?
Yes
Please indicate the language the proposal is being submitted in.
English
This proposal is being evaluated
Posted on the Continuous Motion Development Vote tab for member review prior to the all-member vote.
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Some background from a previous concept of this policy that may be useful:
The charter of rights states each citizen has an equal benefit under law.
I propose the right to influence politics through funding is such a legal benefit, therefore we must insure equal political influence for each citizen.
Canadian elections offered citizens a per vote annual subsidy to each political party. Resolving this motion allows the subsidy to be more flexible because it is not tied to the vote. Empowering this motion means a citizen's funding is not locked into a party for four years and may be changed by the citizen annually. This offers a way to punish parties that break promises and reward those that perform well. Some may argue that the benefit under law is already equal as everyone has the equal right to donate - that it should be "equal right to donate" not "equal influence" that the charter guarantees. That narrower interpretation only enables the rich and powerful elite to entrench society's inequalities. Sock puppet individual donors for corporations behind the scenes can remain a problem. This by extracting up to an added 300% of their next cost political donation from tax payers. Given that tax payers mostly voted against the party getting the donation, the current system represents a form of systemic theft that can be eliminated with a uniform standard. No part of this motion is intended to suggest greens should not use the current system until the playing field is leveled for all parties."
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