Editing Paper candidate (section)

== Canada ==

In [[Canada]], paper candidates may exist at both the [[Elections in Canada#National elections|federal]] and [[Elections in Canada#Provincial and territorial|provincial / territorial]] levels, while the term does not apply in municipal elections as official parties do not exist at the city council level. As in Great Britain, they most commonly exist to allow the main political parties to field candidates in as many constituencies as possible. From 2004 to 2011, parties at the federal level had a financial incentive to draw as many votes as possible due to a [[Federal political financing in Canada#Per-vote subsidy|per-vote subsidy]], paid to all parties with at least 2% of the total popular vote regardless of the number of seats actually won.<ref name="Per-vote subsidy but a fraction of taxpayer support for political parties">{{cite news |url= https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/per-vote-subsidy-but-a-fraction-of-taxpayer-support-for-political-parties/article1880294/ |title=Per-vote subsidy but a fraction of taxpayer support for political parties |first=Éric|last=Grenier |work=The Globe and Mail |date=23 January 2011 |accessdate=27 April 2011}}</ref> This payment, enacted under a [[Liberal Party of Canada|Liberal]] government, was fully eliminated in 2015 under a [[Conservative Party of Canada|Conservative]] government.

Nevertheless, even without per-vote subsidies, parties have other strong incentives to maximize their overall popular vote. In particular, even though winning the popular vote in itself conveys no special rights or privileges in the Canadian electoral system, there have been multiple instances (especially at the provincial level) where a party that has won the popular vote but ''not'' a plurality of seats has attempted to claim a [[Mandate (politics)|mandate]] to govern, often using its popular vote victory to justify such claims. Political parties therefore have an incentive to ensure at all costs that the entire electorate can at least vote for them.

Paper candidates are sometimes used if the party is not seriously contesting the election but must run candidates so it can either get registered or stay registered for some other purpose. In such cases, paper candidates will usually run in districts where ideologically like-minded parties are seen to have little chance of winning to minimize the risk of any nominal support they might receive proving to be [[Vote splitting#Spoiler effect and center-squeeze effect|the decisive margin]] in a close local election under Canada's [[First-past-the-post voting|first-past-the-post]] electoral system.

An example of this scenario in action was found in [[Saskatchewan]], where the [[Progressive Conservative Party of Saskatchewan|Progressive Conservative Party]] withdrew from public presence in the late 1990s but continued to run at least ten candidates, all in urban ridings where the then-governing [[Saskatchewan New Democratic Party]] was dominant at the time, in the province's general elections until the relevant law was amended so as to keep its registration with [[Elections Saskatchewan]], largely to avoid losing control of what at the time was believed to be a substantial amount of money. (Most of the PCs' former politicians and grassroots members formed or joined the [[Saskatchewan Party]].) The Progressive Conservative Party has since attempted to "revive" itself and no longer considers its nominees to be paper candidates. However, they have only achieved modest levels of support with candidates affiliated with the national Conservative Party typically running under the banner of the Progressive Conservative Party in provincial elections.

In neighbouring [[Alberta]], the [[United Conservative Party]] formed from a "merger" of the [[Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta|Progressive Conservative]] and [[Wildrose Party|Wildrose]] parties. However, as Albertan electoral law did not permit the parties to merge officially, both parties continue to exist on paper under the UCP leadership team. Albertan electoral law only requires a party to nominate one candidate to maintain its registration, so in the [[2019 Alberta general election|2019 provincial election]], each party ran one candidate in [[Edmonton-Strathcona (provincial electoral district)|Edmonton-Strathcona]], the riding represented by the incumbent [[Alberta New Democratic Party|New Democratic]] [[Premier of Alberta|premier]], [[Rachel Notley]], which is widely seen to be the NDP's safest seat. The PC candidate polled enough votes to finish in fourth place, ahead of candidates for parties running "serious" campaigns such as the [[Alberta Liberal Party]].

Paper candidates in [[Quebec]] ("poteau" in [[Canadian French]], suggesting that the candidate will only be seen on [[utility pole]]s), particularly of the name-on-ballot variety, can sometimes provide unwanted attention for the candidate's party, particularly if they become viable prospects for elections. For example, in the [[2011 Canadian federal election|2011 federal election]], a sudden increase in opinion-poll support, particularly in Quebec, for the [[New Democratic Party]], which historically had a minimal presence in that province, led to greater scrutiny of some of that party's lower-profile Quebec candidates. One such candidate, [[Ruth Ellen Brosseau]], was working as a bartender hundreds of kilometres away from the riding of [[Berthier—Maskinongé]] where she was on the ballot. She won even though she had never been in her riding, claimed no expenses for her campaign, and spoke its dominant language (Canadian French) poorly.<ref>{{cite news| title= Ruth Ellen Brosseau: de "poteau" à députée| url= http://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/elections-federales/201105/04/01-4395914-ruth-ellen-brosseau-de-poteau-a-deputee.php| language= French | date= 4 May 2011| work=La Presse| accessdate=8 May 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| title= Las Vegas-vacationing anglophone Quebec MP gets spoofed on Facebook page| url= http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/dailybrew/las-vegas-vacationing-anglophone-quebec-mp-gets-spoofed-150019419.html |date=4 May 2011| work= Daily Brew (blog) |first=Marc|last= Weisblott | publisher= Yahoo! News| accessdate=8 May 2012| quote=But, in fact, they were a reference to Brosseau being a "poteau," or post, a Quebecois term for candidates who are on the ballot to represent a party with no expectation of victory.}}</ref> However, Brosseau successfully shook off the label by the time of the [[2015 Canadian federal election|2015 election]], having become recognized as a hard-working MP who had built a significant base of popularity in her district.<ref>Graeme Hamilton, [http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/canadian-politics/ndp-mp-elected-in-2011-without-any-campaigning-now-popular-in-her-adopted-quebec-riding "NDP MP, elected in 2011 without any campaigning, now popular in her adopted Quebec riding"]. ''[[National Post]]'', 17 August 2015.</ref> She was narrowly defeated in the [[2019 Canadian federal election|2019]] and [[2021 Canadian federal election|2021]] elections.

The federal [[Progressive Conservative Party of Canada|Progressive Conservative Party]] also had several paper candidates who won election in the party's historic [[landslide victory]] in the [[1984 Canadian federal election|1984 election]], such as [[Thomas Suluk]] in [[Nunavut (electoral district)|Nunatsiaq]].

An extreme version of a paper candidate is a "Name on Ballot", often referred to by the acronym "NoB". Many NoBs (Names on Ballot) will only place campaign signs, and some do not even campaign at all. In most cases, the only requirement is that the candidate show up at the returning officer's headquarters for a few moments to take an oath and pay the required [[Deposit (politics)|nomination deposit]]. In a more extreme example, in Alberta, candidates do not need to show up to talk to a [[returning officer]], as long as someone on behalf of the party drops off the required paperwork and funds. Many smaller parties, such as the [[New Democratic Party of Prince Edward Island|Prince Edward Island New Democrats]], will field most of their candidates in any given election as NoBs. The term is often worn as a badge of pride in one's loyalty to the party. [[Prince Edward Island|PEI]] New Democrat, Dr. Bob Perry, who has been a NoB many times in the past, often calls himself "Dr. NoB" at election time.