Is The Republican Party of Canada a Fake Political Party?

Since the early days of the pandemic all of Canada’s traditional parties have been supportive of cracking down on the rights of Canadians in order to curb the spread of COVID 19; on the other hand, the alternative parties such as the Libertarian Party, the PPC, and the Maverick Party have been very vocal of their opposition to such measures.

Though, one party has stood out in particular as a new face on the political stage, the Republican Party of Canada (RPC). RPC leader Rob Carbone, a self-implied “billionaire” despite little evidence to this fact, introduced Canadians to the Republican Party, and largely himself, during the 2019 federal election. 

At the time it appeared to be just another small party from Canada’s right-wing, dissatisfied with the Conservatives move to the left; yet, over the months, as the lockdowns went on, their presence in certain online political circles seemed to be growing but some issues seemed to be coming to the surface.

Despite never registering his party or running as a candidate in the 2019 election, Carbone did attempt to get his name out there and accepted donations for his political aspirations. He set up a website and began campaigning as if he was an independent candidate, despite also trying to recruit supporters to a political party and recruit additional candidates.

Carbone often portrayed himself as on the level of federal political leaders like Justin Trudeau who could become Prime Minister while being an independent who never even ran. It also is rather strange that as an independent “candidate” (who has yet to run for office) he runs Facebook ads all over Canada when logic would suggest he should target them to the riding he wants to run in.

There is currently an exodus from the traditional parties in Canada, and as such the alternative parties have seen significant growth, which will only continue as the pandemic rages on and Canadians become more dissatisfied with the mistakes their leadership has made. It appears that the Republican Party of Canada, and Mr. Carbone, are looking to capitalize on this situation in order to become a real presence in Canada.

Carbone has been trying to craft his public persona for decades now with mixed success. Prior to starting his political “career”, he tried to sell himself as a successful businessman making all kinds of big-money deals, with very little details regarding what, how, or with whom these deals were made.

The address listed for his company London Burke Inc. is in an office building at 23 Bedford Road, in Toronto. This fairly run-of-the-mill area of Toronto seems a strange choice for a man running a business that apparently can give out hundreds of millions in private loans. Some online sources state they’ve been able to contact the property owners and have confirmed that Carbone does not have, and never has had, office space at 23 Bedford Road; although I was unable to reach anyone for comment.

Prior to this, not much is known regarding Carbone, other than some news back in the early 90s when he was reportedly found to be part of a group of men caught up in a scheme to marry off Soviet strippers so they could immigrate to Canada.

Upon starting on his political path Carbone apparently wiped all information off of the website for London Burke Inc, claiming that this was to protect himself from “TROLLS and the Radical Left”. Other than the contact form, there is only one page on the entire site, with the words “Billionaires Only” at the top, and the statement screen-captured below.

Despite his current attempts to paint himself as Canada’s Donald Trump, going so far as to use the slogan “Make Canada Great Again” and photoshopping himself with Trump in ads, it doesn’t appear that Carbone actually holds any positions that would be in line with his party’s American counterpart.

In 2018 Rob Carbone announced he would be starting the Progressive Party, a party that would be looking to provide Canadians with free Wi-Fi, vaccinate all pets, protect unions, strengthen the Canadian military, including the intelligence service (CSIS), and provide all ATMs in the country with 24-hour armed security.

In 2019 the party was relaunched as the Republican Party of Canada, yet the policies remained in line with a far more progressive party than the American Republican Party, with whom Carbone is looking to build an appearance of association.

By definition, a republic is a state which has an elected or nominated president rather than a monarch, yet the RPC states they do not oppose the monarchy:

CARBONE will be running for Prime Minister of Canada, at which time he will announce his new political party, the Republican Party of Canada. CARBONE has no plans to abolish the British Monarchy.

The RPC platform also includes free tuition, universal daycare, as well as covering all medical and vaccination costs for pets, they wish to enhance the state-funded health care system, provide dental care, increase the old age security (OAS) pension and cover all health-related costs to seniors. 

Other than being vocal against the lockdowns, which has been painted as a far-right position, it appears as though the Republican Party of Canada platform is a confusing mixture of mostly left-wing and some right-wing policy positions.

In a now-deleted Facebook post on Monday, the Republican Party of Canada page attacked members of the End the Lockdown Caucus, Maxime Bernier, Derek Sloan, Randy Hillier, and others, as parliamentarians and not Republicans. A statement which is strange seeing as anyone who knows the political landscape would understand that those two things aren’t mutually exclusive; there is such a system as a parliamentary republic. 

It seems strange for the RPC to attack supposedly like-minded, right-wing, anti-lockdown individuals as not republican enough when it’s clear that the party and its leader don’t understand or support republicanism themselves.

Following this post, many of those who were following the RPC page on Facebook took to the comment section to voice their displeasure with the division being created among Canadians who need to work together now more than ever, at which point the post was deleted.

A message followed this decision:

Another statement that was met with backlash from supporters, as a party with supposedly “Republican” values began censoring those who had been voicing their displeasure with the party. This was not simply the work of the admins, but Carbone himself.

Once again he cited “trolls” as a major concern of his, which seems like something he perceives as a large issue in his life, but based on the comment section of the posts prior to their deletion it appears as though Carbone is simply shutting down criticism. A move that was widely criticized as going against the values the party claims to seek to uphold.

It appears as though Rob Carbone is simply attempting to use whatever means he can to cultivate his image. The lavish businessman never caught on, he clearly couldn’t find room to edge his way into the already over-represented Canadian left wing with the “Progressive Party”, and has now pivoted all the way in the other direction and began marketing to the political right.

Carbone seems to be simply attempting to associate himself with the Trump phenomena, which many Canadians have taken to, along with the anti-lockdown movement to obfuscate his true positions. The Republican Party of Canada at this point seems to not resemble a real political party in any way outside of the collecting of donations (during the 2019 election), sales of branded merchandise, and gathering of people’s contact information.