CANADIAN ACTION PARTY

The 'Canadian Action Party' (CAP) (French: 'Parti action canadienne' (PAC)) is a Canadian federal political party founded in 1997. It promotes Canadian nationalism, monetary reform, and electoral reform and opposes globalization and free trade agreements.
The Canadian Action Party was founded by the Honourable Paul T. Hellyer, a former Liberal deputy prime minister and minister of defence in the cabinet of Lester Pearson. Hellyer ran unsuccessfully for the leadership of the Liberal Party in 1968, and for the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party in 1976.
It nominated candidates for the first time in the 1997 federal election.
After the 1997] election, it absorbed the Canada Party, another minor party concerned about monetary reform which had been formed by former members of the Social Credit Party of Canada. Former Canada Party leader Claire Foss served as vice president of CAP until November 2003.
Hellyer resigned as CAP leader in 2003 after the New Democratic Party failed to agree to a merger proposal, under which the NDP would change its name. In 2004, Connie Fogal, an activist lawyer, was acclaimed party leader after David Orchard failed to respond to an invitation to take over the leadership.
A number of CAP members also belong to the Committee on Monetary and Economic Reform (COMER) and have been influential in developing CAP's monetary policy, particularly its position that the Bank of Canada, rather than chartered banks, should provide loans to the government, if required, to fund public spending.
CAP also argues for the abrogation of North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and opposes current government initiatives leading to the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), and what it sees as integration with the United States and Mexico into a North American Union.
At its 2006 convention, CAP passed a motion calling for a Royal Commission to investigate the September 11, 2001 attacks and Canada's participation in Afghanistan. CAP believes that the truth of what really happened on September 11, 2001 has not be told, however, Canadians have been subject to anti-terrorism laws and security agreements, such as Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP), that have compromised Canadian sovereignty and civil rights. It also calls for a moratorium on anti-terrorist legislation.

Contents

Stance on the War on Terrorism

Party leaders

Party presidents

2007 By-election

Election results

See also

References

External links

Stance on the War on Terrorism

Members of the CAP have recently questioned whether the United States government had prior knowledge of the September 11, 2001 attacks. The commentary section of its website references Dick Cheney's Project for the New American Century document ''Rebuilding America's Defenses''^[1] Section V entitled "Creating Tomorrow's Dominant Force" - "Further, the process of transformation, even if it brings revolutionary change, is likely to be a long one, absent some catastrophic and catalyzing event––like a new Pearl Harbor". Critics within the CAP fear that the War on Terrorism has erroded and will continue to erode civil liberties in addition to creating wars of aggression^[2]. This view is consistent with 63% of Canadians who responded to a ''Toronto Star'' poll of May 26, 2004 by stating that they are convinced US leaders had "prior knowledge" of the attacks yet declined to act^[3].

Party leaders

★ Paul Hellyer, 1997 - 2004

★ Connie Fogal, 2004 - present

Party presidents

★ Claire Foss, ? - 2003

★ Connie Fogal, 2003 - 2004

★ Catherine Whelan Costen, November 2005 - January 2007

★ Bev Collins, February 2007 - present

2007 By-election

The CAP will present candidates in two of the three ridings included in September 17th by-election. The two candidates are Alexandre Amirizian in Outremont and Michel St-Onge in Saint-Hyacinthe-Bagot. This will be the first electoral experience for both of them.

Election results

Election	# of candidates	# of votes	% of popular vote	% of popular vote in ridings contested
1997 election	58	17,502	0.13%	0.67%
2000 election	70	27,101	0.21%	0.85%
2004 election	45	8,930	0.06%	0.41%
2006 election	36	6,102	0.04%	0.35%

By-Election	candidate	# of votes	% of popular vote	place	Winner
Port Moody-Coquitlam	Will Arlow	156	0.54%	6/8	Lou Sekora (Liberal)
York West	Stephen Burega	242	1.78%	5/6	Judy Sgro (Liberal)
Okanagan-Coquihalla	Jack William Peach	1,159	4.19%	4/8	Stockwell Day (Alliance)
London North Centre	Will Arlow	29	0.13%	7/7	Glen Pearson (Liberal)
Repentigny	Mahmood Raza Baig	91	0.29%	6/7	Raymond Gravel (Bloc)

See also

★ Canadian Action Party candidates, 2006 Canadian federal election

★ Canadian Action Party candidates, 2004 Canadian federal election

★ Canadian Action Party candidates, 2000 Canadian federal election

★ Canadian Action Party candidates, 1997 Canadian federal election

★ List of political parties in Canada

References

1. Rebuilding America's Defenses
2. CAP website
3.
Zogby poll

External links

★ Canadian Action Party, English website

★ Parti action canadienne, French website