Libertarian Party of Canada
Encyclopedia
The Libertarian Party of Canada is a political party in Canada
that subscribes to the tenets of the libertarian
movement across Canada.
in the 1974 federal election
in the Toronto
riding
of Rosedale
. The party achieved registered status in the 1979 federal election
by running more than fifty candidates.
The party described itself as Canada's "fourth party" in the 1980s , but it has since been displaced by new parties such as the Bloc Québécois
and the Green Party of Canada
. The party declined to join the Reform Party of Canada
when it was formed in 1987 . Many libertarians were also attracted to provincial Progressive Conservative
parties that moved to the right during the 1990s in Ontario
under Mike Harris
, and in Alberta
under Ralph Klein.
The decline in the party's membership and resources resulted in Elections Canada
removing their status as a registered party immediately before the 1997 federal election
when the party failed to run the minimum fifty candidates needed to maintain its registration.
The party successfully re-registered with Elections Canada on June 2, 2004, in time for the 2004 election
. Its eight candidates won 1,949 votes.
Jean-Serge Brisson
led the party from May 22, 2000 until May 18, 2008 when he was succeeded by Dennis Young. Young defeated outgoing party president Alan Mercer for the leadership. Savannah Linklater was elected deputy leader.
Some of their policies are as follows:
The party also nominated a number of candidates to run in by-election
s:
Sources:
1974: Libertarian Party of Canada News, July/August 1974, 4.
1979-2006: Parliament of Canada History of the Federal Electoral Ridings since 1867
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
that subscribes to the tenets of the libertarian
Libertarianism
Libertarianism, in the strictest sense, is the political philosophy that holds individual liberty as the basic moral principle of society. In the broadest sense, it is any political philosophy which approximates this view...
movement across Canada.
History
The party was founded on July 7, 1973 by Bruce Evoy, who became its first chairman, and 7 others. Evoy ran for election to ParliamentParliament of Canada
The Parliament of Canada is the federal legislative branch of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in the national capital, Ottawa. Formally, the body consists of the Canadian monarch—represented by her governor general—the Senate, and the House of Commons, each element having its own officers and...
in the 1974 federal election
Canadian federal election, 1974
The Canadian federal election of 1974 was held on July 8, 1974 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 30th Parliament of Canada. The governing Liberal Party won its first majority government since 1968, and gave Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau his third term...
in the Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
riding
Electoral district (Canada)
An electoral district in Canada, also known as a constituency or a riding, is a geographical constituency upon which Canada's representative democracy is based...
of Rosedale
Toronto Centre
Toronto Centre is a federal electoral district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1872 to 1925, and since 1935, under the names Centre Toronto , Toronto Centre , Rosedale and Toronto Centre—Rosedale .Toronto Centre covers the heart of...
. The party achieved registered status in the 1979 federal election
Canadian federal election, 1979
The Canadian federal election of 1979 was held on May 22, 1979 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 31st Parliament of Canada. It resulted in the defeat of Liberal Party of Canada after 11 years in power under Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. Joe Clark led the Progressive...
by running more than fifty candidates.
The party described itself as Canada's "fourth party" in the 1980s , but it has since been displaced by new parties such as the Bloc Québécois
Bloc Québécois
The Bloc Québécois is a federal political party in Canada devoted to the protection of Quebec's interests in the House of Commons of Canada, and the promotion of Quebec sovereignty. The Bloc was originally a party made of Quebec nationalists who defected from the federal Progressive Conservative...
and the Green Party of Canada
Green Party of Canada
The Green Party of Canada is a Canadian federal political party founded in 1983 with 10,000–12,000 registered members as of October 2008. The Greens advance a broad multi-issue political platform that reflects its core values of ecological wisdom, social justice, grassroots democracy and...
. The party declined to join the Reform Party of Canada
Reform Party of Canada
The Reform Party of Canada was a Canadian federal political party that existed from 1987 to 2000. It was originally founded as a Western Canada-based protest party, but attempted to expand eastward in the 1990s. It viewed itself as a populist party....
when it was formed in 1987 . Many libertarians were also attracted to provincial Progressive Conservative
Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada was a Canadian political party with a centre-right stance on economic issues and, after the 1970s, a centrist stance on social issues....
parties that moved to the right during the 1990s in Ontario
Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario
The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario , is a right-of-centre political party in Ontario, Canada. The party was known for many years as "Ontario's natural governing party." It has ruled the province for 80 of the years since Confederation, including an uninterrupted run from 1943 to 1985...
under Mike Harris
Mike Harris
Michael Deane "Mike" Harris was the 22nd Premier of Ontario from June 26, 1995 to April 15, 2002. He is most noted for the "Common Sense Revolution", his Progressive Conservative government's program of deficit reduction in combination with lower taxes and cuts to government...
, and in Alberta
Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta
The Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta is a provincial centre-right party in the Canadian province of Alberta...
under Ralph Klein.
The decline in the party's membership and resources resulted in Elections Canada
Elections Canada
Elections Canada is an independent, non-partisan agency reporting directly to the Parliament of Canada. Its ongoing responsibility is to ensure that Canadians can exercise their choices in federal elections and referenda through an open and impartial process...
removing their status as a registered party immediately before the 1997 federal election
Canadian federal election, 1997
The Canadian federal election of 1997 was held on June 2, 1997, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 36th Parliament of Canada. Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's Liberal Party of Canada won a second majority government...
when the party failed to run the minimum fifty candidates needed to maintain its registration.
The party successfully re-registered with Elections Canada on June 2, 2004, in time for the 2004 election
Canadian federal election, 2004
The Canadian federal election, 2004 , was held on June 28, 2004 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 38th Parliament of Canada. The Liberal government of Prime Minister Paul Martin lost its majority, but was able to form a minority government after the elections...
. Its eight candidates won 1,949 votes.
Jean-Serge Brisson
Jean-Serge Brisson
Jean-Serge Brisson is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He is the former leader of the Libertarian Party of Canada, which he joined in 1986.-Biography:...
led the party from May 22, 2000 until May 18, 2008 when he was succeeded by Dennis Young. Young defeated outgoing party president Alan Mercer for the leadership. Savannah Linklater was elected deputy leader.
Platform
The Libertarian Party of Canada are a hybrid of left-wing social policy and right-wing economic.Some of their policies are as follows:
- Adoption of laissez-faireLaissez-faireIn economics, laissez-faire describes an environment in which transactions between private parties are free from state intervention, including restrictive regulations, taxes, tariffs and enforced monopolies....
principles which would reduce the state's role in the economy. These would include, but are not limited to, the elimination of the federal income tax and government sales tax. - Supports property rights of all Canadians
- Reducing government bureaucracy.
- Support for civil liberties, such as free association and free speech.
- Ending the war on drugs.
- A non-interventionist foreign policy.
- Abolishing the Bank of CanadaBank of CanadaThe Bank of Canada is Canada's central bank and "lender of last resort". The Bank was created by an Act of Parliament on July 3, 1934 as a privately owned corporation. In 1938, the Bank became a Crown corporation belonging to the Government of Canada...
- Abolishing the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
- Repealing the Canada Health ActCanada Health ActThe Canada Health Act is a piece of Canadian federal legislation, adopted in 1984, which specifies the conditions and criteria with which the provincial and territorial health insurance programs must conform in order to receive federal transfer payments under the Canada Health Transfer...
Election results
| Election | # of candidates | # of votes | % of popular vote | % in ridings contested |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 Canadian federal election, 1979 The Canadian federal election of 1979 was held on May 22, 1979 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 31st Parliament of Canada. It resulted in the defeat of Liberal Party of Canada after 11 years in power under Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. Joe Clark led the Progressive... |
60 | 16,042 | 0.14% | ? |
| 1980 Canadian federal election, 1980 The Canadian federal election of 1980 was held on February 18, 1980 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 32nd Parliament of Canada... |
58 | 14,656 | 0.13% | ? |
| 1984 Canadian federal election, 1984 The Canadian federal election of 1984 was held on September 4 of that year to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 33rd Parliament of Canada... |
72 | 23,514 | 0.19% | 0.70% |
| 1988 Canadian federal election, 1988 The Canadian federal election of 1988 was held November 21, 1988, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 34th Parliament of Canada. It was an election largely fought on a single issue: the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement .... |
88 | 33,185 | 0.25% | 0.35% |
| 1993 Canadian federal election, 1993 The Canadian federal election of 1993 was held on October 25 of that year to elect members to the Canadian House of Commons of the 35th Parliament of Canada. Fourteen parties competed for the 295 seats in the House at that time... |
52 | 14,630 | 0.11% | 0.25% |
| 1997 Canadian federal election, 1997 The Canadian federal election of 1997 was held on June 2, 1997, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 36th Parliament of Canada. Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's Liberal Party of Canada won a second majority government... |
* | * | * | |
| 2000 Canadian federal election, 2000 The 2000 Canadian federal election was held on November 27, 2000, to elect 301 Members of Parliament of the Canadian House of Commons of the 37th Parliament of Canada.... |
* | * | * | |
| 2004 Canadian federal election, 2004 The Canadian federal election, 2004 , was held on June 28, 2004 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 38th Parliament of Canada. The Liberal government of Prime Minister Paul Martin lost its majority, but was able to form a minority government after the elections... |
8 | 1,949 | 0.01% | 0.32% |
| 2006 Canadian federal election, 2006 The 2006 Canadian federal election was held on January 23, 2006, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 39th Parliament of Canada. The Conservative Party of Canada won the greatest number of seats: 40.3% of seats, or 124 out of 308, up from 99 seats in 2004, and 36.3% of votes:... |
10 | 3,002 | 0.02% | 0.27% |
| 2008 Canadian federal election, 2008 The 2008 Canadian federal election was held on Tuesday, October 14, 2008 to elect members to the Canadian House of Commons of the 40th Canadian Parliament after the previous parliament had been dissolved by the Governor General on September 7, 2008... |
26 | 7,300 | 0.05% | 0.07% |
| 2011 | 23 | 6,017 | 0.04% |
The party also nominated a number of candidates to run in by-election
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
s:
- 1980 by-election: 1
- 1981 by-election: 1
- 1982 by-election: 1
- 1990 by-election: 2
- 1995 by-election: 1
- 2008 by-election: 1
- 2010 by-election: 1
Sources:
1974: Libertarian Party of Canada News, July/August 1974, 4.
1979-2006: Parliament of Canada History of the Federal Electoral Ridings since 1867
Leaders
- Sieg Pedde (1973 – 1974)
- Charles 'Chuck' Lyall (1974 – 1976)
- Ron Bailey (1976 – 1978)
- Alex EagleshamAlex EagleshamAlex W. Eaglesham is a former Canadian politician. He was the leader of the Libertarian Party of Canada in 1978 and 1979, and officially led the party in the 1979 federal election....
(1978 – 1979) - Linda Cain (1980 – 1982)
- Neil ReynoldsNeil Reynolds-Career in Journalism:After working as a journalist at the Sarnia Observer, London Free Press and Toronto Star, Reynolds became editor-in-chief of the Kingston Whig-Standard in 1977....
(May 1982 – 1983) - Victor Levis (1983 – 1987)
- Dennis Corrigan (1987 – 1990)
- Stanislaw TyminskiStanislaw TyminskiStanisław "Stan" Tymiński is a Canadian businessman of Polish origin, dealing in electronics and computers, and a sometime-politician in both Poland and Canada...
(1990 – 1991) - George Dance (1991 – 1993)
- Hilliard Cox (May 1993 – 1995)
- George Dance (1995 – 1996)
- Vincent Pouliot (May 12, 1996 – April 5, 1997)
- Robert Morse (1997-1999)
- Jean-Serge BrissonJean-Serge BrissonJean-Serge Brisson is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He is the former leader of the Libertarian Party of Canada, which he joined in 1986.-Biography:...
(1999 - May 18, 2008) - Dennis Young (May 18, 2008 - May 2011)
- Katrina Chowne (May 2011 - present)
See also
- Libertarian Party of Canada candidates, 2011 Canadian federal electionLibertarian Party of Canada candidates, 2011 Canadian federal electionThis is a list of the candidates running for the Libertarian Party of Canada in the 41st Canadian federal election.-British Columbia:-Ontario:-See also:*Results of the Canadian federal election, 2011...
- Libertarian Party of Canada candidates, 2008 Canadian federal election
- Libertarian Party of Canada candidates, 2006 Canadian federal election
- Libertarian Party of Canada candidates, 1993 Canadian federal election
- Libertarian Party of Canada candidates, 1988 Canadian federal election
- Ontario Libertarian PartyOntario Libertarian PartyThe Ontario Libertarian Party is a political party in Ontario, Canada that was founded in 1975 by Bruce Evoy, Vince Miller, and others, inspired by the formation three years earlier of the US Libertarian Party. The Party is guided by adherence to the philosophical ideas of Austrian Economics and...
- Libertarian Party of Manitoba
- British Columbia Libertarian PartyBritish Columbia Libertarian PartyThe British Columbia Libertarian Party is a libertarian political party in British Columbia, Canada.It first nominated candidates in the 1986 provincial election...