What happens to fringe parties if the election is a 2-horse race?

Darren Major · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 25, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

Cannabis has been ineligible successful Canada since 2018 and yet the Marijuana Party — which was formed to champion legalization — is inactive moving 2 candidates successful this election.

"The Marijuana Party has been efficaciously dead. I've kept it hardly live by doing the minimum indispensable to support it registered," Blair Longley, the party's leader, told CBC News.

The enactment has shifted absorption since 2018, raising concerns astir however the authorities regulates pot.

"It's conscionable truthful rife with absurdities and psychotic BS … it's truthful screwed up," Longley said of the government's regulatory system. He said that his enactment has been capable to enactment registered acknowledgment to radical who stock those concerns and are consenting to instrumentality retired enactment memberships.

"[But] if it was lone that issue, past I would person been retired of this crippled a agelong clip ago," helium said.

Longley said his main interest close present is electoral financing rules helium believes are overly restrictive for smaller parties. He's filed ineligible challenges against the authorities implicit those laws with constricted occurrence and says helium is presently trying to instrumentality the authorities to tribunal again.

"It not conscionable disadvantages smaller parties successful general, but [it's] peculiarly worse connected the Marijuana Party," Longley said.

Room for smaller parties successful this campaign?

The Marijuana Party is 1 of 10 tiny parties that are lone moving lone a fistful of candidates this election. Combined, determination are 199 candidates for these tiny slates.

With the predetermination shaping up arsenic a two-horse contention betwixt the Liberals and Conservatives, Richard Johnston, a prof emeritus with the University of British Columbia's governmental subject department, says the smaller parties person go much sidelined than usual.

"It leaves them adjacent much kicked to the broadside of the roadworthy than successful a much mean election," helium said.

But Chris MacKenzie — a governmental sociologist astatine the University of British Columbia and writer of Pro-Family Politics and Fringe Parties successful Canada — says tiny parties seldom absorption connected electoral success. Rather, they get progressive to assistance gully attraction to issues they don't consciousness are afloat addressed by their larger counterparts.

"What their registration arsenic a governmental enactment gives them is simply a platform. It gives them a dependable successful [the] mainstream electoral governmental domain wherever they tin spell to all-candidates' meetings and they tin stress the contented that is of peculiar interest to them," helium said.

That being said, MacKenzie agrees that determination is astir apt little appetite for the electorate to formed a "boutique vote" successful this predetermination fixed the heightened consciousness of urgency astir the main ballot questions, specifically U.S. relations and the outgo of living.

It's a rarity to spot smaller parties person electoral occurrence and they typically enactment arsenic a protestation ballot for Canadians disaffected by the large parties. In 2021, tiny parties accounted 0.75 per cent of the full votes cast. MacKenzie anticipates they'll relationship for adjacent little this clip around.

"There's a definite acute urgency, I think, astatine play successful this election. And that doesn't play good for small insignificant parties," helium said.

WATCH | With the predetermination days away, here's what the polls are signalling: 

But Johnston said that consciousness of urgency mightiness besides play into the smaller parties' hands.

"I accidental that the anticipation is that they tin instrumentality vantage of the heightened attraction of voters to the governmental country to get their connection out, astatine slightest to immoderate people," helium said.

MacKenzie said smaller parties typically correspond singular issues. That's evident by their names, specified arsenic the Animal Protection Party oregon the Christian Heritage Party.

Other smaller parties look to effort to inhabit areas of the governmental spectrum that mightiness not needfully be represented by the large parties.

On the right, MacKenzie said the United Party of Canada is taking a much hardline stance than the People's Party of Canada connected immoderate issues. The Centrist Party and the Future Party person tried to spot themselves betwixt the Conservatives and Liberals. The Communist Party and the Marxist-Leninist Party find themselves connected the acold left.

But adjacent these parties tin inclination toward singular issues, MacKenzie said, pointing to the Future Party arsenic an example.

The Future Party officially launched past summer, billing itself arsenic a centrist enactment for voters who person go disillusioned with the Liberals and Conservatives.

But MacKenzie said it has mostly focused connected defence spending this campaign, pushing for Canada to boost its subject fund to 5 per cent of GDP by 2030.

MacKenzie besides pointed to the United Party — which was formed by a erstwhile Conservative subordinate who attempted to tally for the enactment successful 2022 — seeming mostly focused connected restricting termination rights and expanding weapon rights.

The aboriginal of the fringe

Johnston argued that the heyday of fringe parties mightiness beryllium coming to an end.

"It seems that they flourished much successful the precocious 1980s and aboriginal 1990s. We really talked astir the [satirical] Rhinoceros [Party]. We talked astir Christian Heritage — not a lot, but enough" helium said. "[Now] there's been little country successful the speech for these fringe parties."

But MacKenzie said adjacent if they don't person electoral success, fringe parties service a intent arsenic a "sentinel for democracy."

"What they're saying is, 'Listen, you tin beryllium down with your friends astatine a room array and person issues that are of value to you, and we tin registry a governmental enactment and we tin spell and effort to get elected and get our connection out.' That's however the antiauthoritarian process is expected to unfold," helium said.

"They correspond … this conception [that] you tin really prosecute politically successful Canada and that it's important and it's astir apt much important present than it's ever been."