I think ballots in Canada most certainly should have a place for non-major party candidates. I think it's really wonderful that people step up to run in elections when they probably know they don't actually have much of a chance of winning, depending on their party and their geography. I think that is an important part of our democratic exercise. These are sincere people.
Other people will often step forward because they're animated by some issue that really matters to them and they want to express that issue. That's different from people who are not running to be a contestant in the election as their principal motivator but who are, instead, adding their name to the ballot because they want to make a larger point. I think that is the animating spirit of the longest ballot committee. They want to gum up the ballot with as many names as possible to make a point that's different from staying in an election because you have certain views.
I think you can certainly strike a legislative sweet spot that makes it possible for local people who want to run for the sake of running, even if they're not a part of a major party, to get on that ballot by earnestly seeking a large number of signatures, while tailoring the rules not to allow for the monkeying of ballots by allowing, for example, one individual or one group to capture signatures for hundreds of people.