Neo-Rhino Party

Leader: Francois Yo Gourd

http://www.neorhino.ca

We have assembled the content for this political party platform summary from the sources listed at the bottom of the page. If you notice any incorrect information or have any questions, please get in touch with us using our contact us form - we welcome all feedback!

Want to know more about the Party? Check out our Fact Sheet here.

Accountability	The Neo Rhino Party are the ultimate anti-party. They don’t follow the political cliché of making empty promises; instead they offer outlandish ideals (as well as budgets) that sound both perfect and impossible. They describe themselves as “the worst party because we cannot be the best. We will be the best of the worst parties and we will get worse and worser.”
Armed Forces/Military	Want to abolish the military
Agriculture/Fisheries	Want to abolish the military budget to recoup more than 18 million dollars. $5 million dollar budget to create an army of clowns to save the world, and an army of creativity" that will see soldiers' weapons, replaced with paintball guns and used to repaint Havana.
Arts/Culture	The party suggests appointing Rick Mercer as Minister of Culture. The elimination of ads on TV. To invest $5 million to create an army of clowns to save the world. A country with so rich with culture, it will drive our economy.
Childcare	The party want to teach music from primary school as it stimulates both sides of the brain Raise the salaries and workforce of teachers and childcare providers Abolish the prescription of Ritalin Establish $1/day childcare.
Democratic Reform	The Party aims to represent everyone who doesn’t identify with the other political parties, the general state of Canada's capitalist society, and those who feel that the current democratic system lacks democracy. They intend to create a ‘Realizable Utopia’ by ‘Making the system crumble’. They also intend to adopt proportional representation in Parliament, give children the right to vote, increase voter turnout by paying electors $10 to vote, and redecorate voting booths with soft music.
Economy	No Official Position
Environment	The party want to work towards a better transportation system (free, convenient and environmentally friendly), a 5 year plan to cut gasoline consumption in half and a ban on cars that pollute. To nationalize the exploitation of all natural resources as they belong to everyone: water, wind, earth, mines, gasoline, forests, etc.
Gun Registry	No Official Position.
Healthcare	The Party recommends a preventative approach to healthcare where laughter is the best medicine. They support using eastern and indigenous treatments over super hospitals and emphasize the use of natural and intuitive healthcare rather than swallowing hundreds of pills prescribed by pharmaceutical companies.
International Policy	No Official Position
Immigration	No Official Position
Marijuana	Want to legalize marijuana
Post Secondary Education	The Party aims to offer free education for life, for everyone, and scholarships for students at the poverty level. They also support the Association pour une Solidarité Syndicale Étudiante (ASSÉ)’s positions.
Same-Sex Rights	No Official Position.
Seniors/Low Income	The Party wants to take care of all elderly persons and construct transition homes for adults at the end of life.
Taxation	To abolish tax shelters to redistribute funds to education, health, culture, and social programs.

www.neorhino.ca
History

Although Neorhino.ca was only created in May of 2006, its roots can be traced back to 1963 when physician Jacques Ferron created the original “Rhinoceros Party”. Neorhino.ca kept the tradition of its predecessor by representing an alternative for people who can’t identify with Canada’s other parties, capitalist society or political process.

Voting for the party is essentially a protest vote and a way to poke fun at ourselves. Party member Brian “Godzilla” Salmi, also known as “Satan”, has filed a lawsuit against the government for unconstitutional electoral laws. Although 2008 was the new party’s first election, it did not have a terrible showing and is likely to revive the spirit of silliness that the original Rhinos brought to the country in the years to come.

Political Alignment
Policy Priorities
Army of clowns to promote laughter and world peace, abolish the environment, guaranteed weekly orgasms for everyone, national gas barbecue registry, if ever elected would dissolve government.
Notable People from the Past

Jacques Ferron was the Rhinoceros Party’s founder. He created the party in 1963 on the foundation that “politicians do nothing and neither will we”, but supplied a much more amusing platform. Ferron left before the party’s collapse in 1993 and has since joined the Parti Quebecois.

Cornelius I was the first Rhinoceros Party leader. Originally from the city of Granby, Quebec, where the famous zoo is located, he moved to the U.S. after he was traded for a giraffe in 1993. That’s right, Cornelius is an actual rhinoceros!

One of the most influential party members is Satan. His former name was Brian Salmi, though most people called him “Godzilla” on account of the fact that he campaigned in a huge Godzilla suit. He plans to run in future elections, but is currently busy with his lawsuit.

The current party leader is Francois “Yo” Gourd. He founded the new Neorhino.ca and took part in the party’s first election as a candidate in the Outremont riding in 2008.

Turning Points

The Rhinoceros Party suffered defeat in 1993 at the hands of a federal electoral law that states organizations may be granted party status if they run candidates in at least fifty ridings at $1000 per candidate deposit (total of $50,000). The party chose to abstain from the election, but was subsequently removed from the official list of registered parties. The party and its members were defunct for over ten years before Yo Gourd rebuilt it as Neorhino.ca. The party now seeks to return to its former position of prominence as the most ridiculous party ever.
Fun_Facts

As Brian “Godzilla” Salmi’s name is now legally Satan, his lawsuit over the electoral law is titled: Satan v. Her Majesty the Queen.

Neorhinos refer to themselves as “Marxist-Lennonists”, as in Groucho Marx and John Lennon, not the communist dudes.

In 1988, Liberal leader John Turner ran in the Vancouver Quadra riding against a tough to beat candidate: a Rhinoceros Party member also named John Turner! Given the confusion, the Rhino candidate garnered a significant number of votes (760).

Former Montreal Expos pitcher Bill Lee ran for President of the United States in 1988 representing the Rhinoceros Party.

Even the original Rhino Party in Canada had its predecessors; it follows in the footsteps of a Brazilian rhinoceros named Cacareco, who was nominated to Sao Paolo city council as a joke, but went on to win. They are also closely aligned with Great Britain’s Monster Raving Loony Party.

Sources:

http://www.neorhino.ca/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1 http://www.cbc.ca/news/canadavotes/story/2008/09/23/f-otherparties.html
http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/rhino-party/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neorhino.ca
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhinoceros_Party_of_Canada

NGOs

NGO - three letters you might have seen tossed around that seem to be doing something, but what? NGO stands for Non-Governmental Organisation, which means a non-profit group or association that acts outside of institutionalised political structures.

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