Comrade Marcel
7th December 2003, 18:55
For immediate Release
Communist Party to Challenge Proposed
Name of ‘Merged’ Conservative/Alliance Party
The Communist Party released today the text of a letter sent by CPC Leader Miguel Figueroa to Jean-Pierre Kingsley, Chief Electoral Officer of Canada, contesting the proposed name of the new “Conservative Party”. The text of the letter follows. For more information, please contact M. Figueroa at 416-469-2446 or [email protected]:
________________________
December 5, 2003
Mr. Jean-Pierre Kingsley,
Chief Electoral Officer of Canada
Elections Canada,
257 Slater St.
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0M6
Dear Mr. Kingsley:
I am writing on behalf of the Central Executive Committee of our Party to raise a serious concern with you regarding the proposed merger of the Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative Parties.
Our Party realizes that no formal application for the merger of these two parties has yet been submitted; however we believe it only fair and reasonable to bring our concerns to your attention – and to the attention of those parties – at this time.
According to the “unity” agreement which is to provide the basis for the merger, the name of the new formation shall be the “Conservative Party of Canada / Parti conservateur du Canada”. Furthermore, the abbreviation or acronym for the new party shall be “CPC/PCC”, which is identical to the acronym of our Party, the full name of which, as you know, is: Communist Party of Canada / Parti communiste du Canada (CPC/PCC)”.
Article 368(a)(i) of the Canada Elections Act states:
A political party whose leader has made an application under subsection 366(1) becomes eligible for registration if: (a) its name, short-form name, abbreviation or logo does not: (i) so resemble the name, short-form name, abbreviation or logo of a registered party or an eligible party that it would, in the Chief Electoral Officer’s opinion, likely be confused with it, or…” (emphasis added)
In our view, the registration of this new party under the proposed name would create conditions that would inevitably lead to substantial confusion among members of the electorate, with respect to properly identifying our two respective parties in the future.
As you are well aware, acronyms are widely used in public life – especially in the press and media – to identify political parties (e.g., NDP, PCs, etc.). Our Party is often referred to as the “CP”.
Unless this situation is averted, the possibility for substantial confusion looms large. Imagine how horrified and outraged our members and supporters would be to see the following headline in their morning paper: “CP to Make Homosexuality a Criminal Act”; nor, presumably, would supporters of the Conservative Party welcome a story which read: “CP Calls on Canada to Quit NATO, NORAD!”
But the biggest issue is how such a circumstance might affect Canadians in general, impairing their ability to clearly differentiate between the federally-registered political parties in this instance.
We therefore urge you to intervene with the responsible officers of the Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative parties to bring to their attention our concerns with respect to their proposed name for the merged party.
I also wish to inform you that, should an application for registration under the current proposed party name proceed, our Party will have no other option but to launch a formal challenge to any such an application, under Article 368(a)(i).
Sincerely yours,
Miguel Figueroa
Leader
Communist Party of Canada
cc. All registered federal parties
Communist Party to Challenge Proposed
Name of ‘Merged’ Conservative/Alliance Party
The Communist Party released today the text of a letter sent by CPC Leader Miguel Figueroa to Jean-Pierre Kingsley, Chief Electoral Officer of Canada, contesting the proposed name of the new “Conservative Party”. The text of the letter follows. For more information, please contact M. Figueroa at 416-469-2446 or [email protected]:
________________________
December 5, 2003
Mr. Jean-Pierre Kingsley,
Chief Electoral Officer of Canada
Elections Canada,
257 Slater St.
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0M6
Dear Mr. Kingsley:
I am writing on behalf of the Central Executive Committee of our Party to raise a serious concern with you regarding the proposed merger of the Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative Parties.
Our Party realizes that no formal application for the merger of these two parties has yet been submitted; however we believe it only fair and reasonable to bring our concerns to your attention – and to the attention of those parties – at this time.
According to the “unity” agreement which is to provide the basis for the merger, the name of the new formation shall be the “Conservative Party of Canada / Parti conservateur du Canada”. Furthermore, the abbreviation or acronym for the new party shall be “CPC/PCC”, which is identical to the acronym of our Party, the full name of which, as you know, is: Communist Party of Canada / Parti communiste du Canada (CPC/PCC)”.
Article 368(a)(i) of the Canada Elections Act states:
A political party whose leader has made an application under subsection 366(1) becomes eligible for registration if: (a) its name, short-form name, abbreviation or logo does not: (i) so resemble the name, short-form name, abbreviation or logo of a registered party or an eligible party that it would, in the Chief Electoral Officer’s opinion, likely be confused with it, or…” (emphasis added)
In our view, the registration of this new party under the proposed name would create conditions that would inevitably lead to substantial confusion among members of the electorate, with respect to properly identifying our two respective parties in the future.
As you are well aware, acronyms are widely used in public life – especially in the press and media – to identify political parties (e.g., NDP, PCs, etc.). Our Party is often referred to as the “CP”.
Unless this situation is averted, the possibility for substantial confusion looms large. Imagine how horrified and outraged our members and supporters would be to see the following headline in their morning paper: “CP to Make Homosexuality a Criminal Act”; nor, presumably, would supporters of the Conservative Party welcome a story which read: “CP Calls on Canada to Quit NATO, NORAD!”
But the biggest issue is how such a circumstance might affect Canadians in general, impairing their ability to clearly differentiate between the federally-registered political parties in this instance.
We therefore urge you to intervene with the responsible officers of the Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative parties to bring to their attention our concerns with respect to their proposed name for the merged party.
I also wish to inform you that, should an application for registration under the current proposed party name proceed, our Party will have no other option but to launch a formal challenge to any such an application, under Article 368(a)(i).
Sincerely yours,
Miguel Figueroa
Leader
Communist Party of Canada
cc. All registered federal parties