New party aims to launch ‘democracy 2.0’

An upstart political party hopes to change the 'business as usual' political landscape in the next federal election.

Michael Nicula founded the OPC with the hopes of changing 'business as usual' politics in Canada. 

The Online Party of Canada bills itself as a non-traditional, internet-based party that represents a revolutionary introduction of technology to the political process.

The party adheres to the idea of direct democracy, where all citizens vote directly on policy issues, with majority rules dictating the government’s stance.

“What we're trying to accomplish is to offer Canadians a solution--if they embrace OPC and vote our representatives into Parliament, the Parliament will no longer act in spite of the will of the voters, as it happens today and has been the case for centuries,” said Michael Nicula, the party’s founder.

Nicula, 40, grew up in Eastern Europe and has a university degree in architecture and an Executive MBA from the University of Washington. He has worked as a business software consultant for more than 15 years and lives in Toronto with his wife and daughter. A fan of adventure travel, Nicula has been active in politics, though this is his first attempt at political activism in Canada.

Competence and accountability

Nicula says his party, headquartered in Toronto, can provide the competence and accountability that is missing from today’s politics. OPC representatives are compelled to represent the official position of their party, and must meet strict competency requirements under the party’s qualification plan.

Representatives must prepare personal promissory letters of resignation before being accepted and will be forced to resign should they vote against the party’s official positions. Candidates are screened by an OPC panel for competence in relevant areas such as public policy, law, governance and accounting. Candidates deemed under-qualified will be encouraged to take university courses to meet party standards. The party hopes to someday establish an internal leadership academy for training candidates.

“We're trying to offer a good alternative to the traditional political system, which most Canadians believe is flawed,” Nicula said.

"It is a very novel and interesting idea, but in my opinion, extremely unworkable — I don’t know how it could actually operate as a serious political party."

The party shuns ideology. Policies are dictated by ‘majority rules’ online member voting. The OPC website explains that, as a non-traditional party, it does not plan to have a  platform. It will not create political alliances or deals, and will treat policy issues completely separately from one another. There is no broad coherent stance and positions may change with the votes of members. Elected OPC members of parliament must support the positions of party members in all votes in the House of Commons.

“Our members can vote online and can change their vote at anytime, not only 'once every 4 years'. The website is the tool we use to record and count the votes in real time, also offering an audit trail — a member can check their vote and see the count,” Nicula said.

In addition to offering expert opinion to help educate voting members, the website will have security features similar to those used for online banking: SSL encryption, account verification processes and audit reports of activity, to protect the integrity of the voting process.

However, some remain skeptical of the fledgling party’s chances come election time.

“It is a very novel and interesting idea, but in my opinion, extremely unworkable — I don’t know how it could actually operate as a serious political party,” said Jonathan Malloy, a professor of political science at Carleton University.

“Good for them for trying to do new things but I don’t see how this can be a viable instrument of public policy,” he said.

Malloy says that the party needs to use technology as a means of advancing well thought-out policies.

“Right now their only real policy is their technology. Technology is the end in itself. I would advise them to work on actual policies and research and carefully crafting the issues they want people to vote on,” he said.

World-wide web

Still, the concept of online-based, direct democracy seems to be gaining a foothold both in Canada, and around the world.

“We have been in constant communication over the past month with the leaders of similar initiatives at various levels of government in Sweden, Iceland, Denmark, Belgium, Ireland, Hungary, Spain, Italy, Turkey and Australia,” said J.F. Frenette, a member of the party's executive.

The OPC and other international parties are trying to reach a consensus on the principles of running an electronic direct democracy (EDD) party, with the ultimate goal being an international EDD manifesto centered on the principle of political neutrality.

In Canada, with talk of an impending federal election, the OPC is preparing to jump into the political fray.

The OPC website allows members to view expert opinion and vote on party policy.

“Our first challenge is to get the party registered under the old-fashion system of Elections Canada. They do not accept electronic membership, only hard copy, and want to verify via regular mail. Our members joined us because they like the modernity of it, yet, we must ask them to send us a form via mail,” Nicula said.

The OPC is currently in the process of confirming its more than 500 members are eligible voters needed for offical party certification and is searching for qualified candidates to run in the next election.

“We do have about ten candidates already. The number is expected to rise to over 100 by the time the elections are called,” Nicula said.

Nicula says that he thinks politically fed-up Canadians will be happy to give the OPC a chance when it comes time to vote.

“My belief is that Internet is the game changer and will provide smaller groups who are worth voters' trust a chance to make their proposals.” 

A brief history of electronic direct democracy

Direct democracy has been around since ancient Greece, but electronic direct democracy is relatively new. Here's a quick overview: