Rhinoceros

The Rhinoceros Party is a Canadian federal-level satirical political party, referred to in English Canada as the Second Rhinoceros Party. It was created in Montreal on May 21, 2006, and recognized by Elections Canada as being eligible for registration on August 16, 2007, and an official political party on August 23, 2007. It is the successor to the Rhinoceros Party of Canada. The party was founded by François "Yo" Gourd, who was involved with the original incarnation of the First Rhinoceros Party. He stated he named the new party (then under the name "neorhino")…   for the Rhinoceros Party and for Neo, the Matrix character. The party is led by Sébastien Corriveau. It promises, like its predecessor, not to keep any of its promises if elected. In addition to the national platform promises released by the party leadership, individual candidates also had considerable freedom to campaign on their own ideas and slogans. Bryan Gold of the Rhinoceros Party described the party platform as two feet high and made of wood: "My platform is the one I’m standing on". A candidate named Ted "not too" Sharp ran in Flora MacDonald’s Kingston and the Islands riding with the campaign slogan "Fauna, not flora", promising to give fauna equal representation. He also took a stand on abortion (promising, if elected, never to have an abortion) and capital punishment: "If it was good enough for my grandfather, then it’s good enough for me". To strengthen Canada’s military, Sharp planned to tow Antarctica north to the Arctic Circle: "Once we have Antarctica, we’ll control all of the world’s cold. If another Cold War starts, we’ll be unbeatable". In the 1988 election, the Rhinoceros Party ran a candidate named John Turner in the same riding as Liberal leader John Turner, and received 760 votes. Penny Hoar, a safe sex activist, distributed condoms in Toronto while running under the slogan: "Politicians screw you — protect yourself".