Ontario Libertarian Party

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Ontario Libertarian Party
Leader Allen Small
President Jean-Serge Brisson
Founded 1975 (1975)
Headquarters Scarborough, Ontario
Ideology Libertarianism
Colours Green
Website
www.libertarian.on.ca
Politics of Ontario
Political parties
Elections

The Ontario Libertarian Party (OLP) is a political party in Ontario, Canada that was founded in 1975 by Bruce Evoy, Vince Miller, and others,[1] inspired by the formation three years earlier of the US Libertarian Party. The party is guided by a Statement of Principles and the philosophical ideas of Austrian School of Economics[citation needed]. It is influenced by authors and thinkers like Jan Narveson and Murray Rothbard. The party's leader is Allen Small.

It claimed, for a time, to be Ontario's fourth party, but has been surpassed in popularity by the Green Party of Ontario and the Family Coalition Party of Ontario.

In 1980 several members of the party, unhappy with its direction and democratic structure, left and formed the Unparty. In 1984, under the leadership of Marc Emery and Robert Metz, the Unparty's name and nature changed: it became the Freedom Party of Ontario.

The party is associated with the Libertarian Party of Canada.

Election results

The party's most successful election was in the 1990 general election when the NDP won unexpectedly. Libertarian candidates received 24,613 votes or 0.6% of the vote. In the 45 ridings where the party ran candidates, candidates averaged 547 votes or 1.8% of the total. In eight ridings, Libertarian candidates came in fourth behind the PC, Liberal and NDP candidates. Top Libertarian vote getters were: Robert Shapton, 5.1% of the vote in Dufferin-Peel; William Galster, 4.5% in Scarborough-Agincourt; John McLean, 3.4% in Simcoe East; and Daniel Hunt, 3.0% of the vote in Riverdale.[2]

Because, in part, of the Harris "Common Sense Revolution" and the appearance of the Reform Party of Ontario, the party lost momentum and had trouble finding candidates in 1995, 1999 and 2003. In 1995, under the leadership of John Shadbolt, the party's total vote declined to 6,085 votes. The top candidate was Robert Ede in York Centre, with 1,792 votes (2.3%). Three other candidates – Party Chairman Jean-Serge Brisson, Vice-Chairman Kaye Sargent, and Paul Barker – topped 1.0%. Shadbolt resigned one day after the 1995 election, and was replaced by George Dance on an interim basis. Sam Apelbaum was chosen as the party's full-time leader at a convention in October 1996.[3]

The demise of the Reform Party and the replacement of Mike Harris with Ernie Eves helped the party to regain membership.[citation needed] Changes to the Ontario Election Act, calling for fixed election dates at four year intervals, galvanized the party to start preparing well in advance for the 2007 general election. As a result the party fielded 25 candidates and obtained a total of 9,249 votes.[4]

Continuing its momentum in the 2011 general election, the party ran 51 candidates and won a total of 19,387 votes, 0.45% of the popular vote. This was more than double the number of candidates and votes received in the 2007 general election. Top vote getters included: David Epstein, 2.6% in York Centre; Doug McLarty, 2.1% in Scarborough-Agincourt; and Christin Milloy, 2.0% in Mississauga-Brampton South.[5]|

Year of election # of candidates # of seats won # of votes % of popular vote
1975 17[6] 0 4,752
1977 31[7] 0 9,961
1981 12[8][9] 0 7,087
1985 17[10][11] 0 12,831 0.4%
1987 25[12][13] 0 13,514 0.4%
1990 45[14][15] 0 24,613 0.6%
1995 7[16] 0 6,085 0.2%
1999 7[17] 0 2,337 0.1%
2003 5[18] 0 1,991 0.1%
2007 25[19] 0 9,249 0.2%
2011 51[20] 0 19,387 0.5%

1977-1981 results: Bulletin (Ontario Libertarian Party), 13:2 (September 1987), 4.]

  • September 6, 2012 by-elections:
    • Vaughan, Paolo Fabrizio, 307 votes (1.0%), fifth out of nine candidates.
    • Kitchener–Waterloo, Allan Dettweiler, 155 votes (0.3%), fifth out of ten candidates.

Executive committee

Conventions are held every three years to elect the Leader, Deputy Leader, Chairman, Vice Chair, Secretary, Recording Secretary, Treasurer, and Campaign Director for a three-year term. All of these positions except Leader and Deputy Leader may be replaced by election at a General Meeting. Members-at-Large are elected for a one-year term at a Convention or Annual General Meeting.

The party's Executive Committee, elected at its November 2011 Leadership Convention:

  • Leader – Allen Small
  • Deputy Leader – Paolo Fabrizio
  • Chair –Jean-Serge Brisson
  • Vice-Chair – Rob Brooks
  • Secretary – Philip Bender
  • Recording Secretary – Matthew Belanger
  • Treasurer – Jim McIntosh
  • Campaign Director – Jeff McLarty
  • Members at Large – Christin Milloy, Adam Hyde

Greg Pattinson has since resigned as Chair. Jean-Serge Brisson took over the position, Christin Milloy advanced to Vice-Chair, and G.J. Hagenaars was elected to the position of Member at Large.

Ethics Committee

The Ethics Committee is normally composed of six members, none of whom may be a member of the Executive. Two (or more) members of the Party are elected to the Ethics Committee for a three-year term at each Convention or Annual General Meeting. (Ethics Committee members are listed in order of seniority – longest serving members first.)

Nunzio Venuto (2009), Anthony Giles (2009), George Dance (2010), Chester Brown(2010), John Shaw (2011), Sam Apelbaum (2011) [21]

Party leaders

See also

References

Bulletin is the newsletter of the Ontario Libertarian Party.

  1. ↑ Miller, Vince. "Taking Liberty Global", August 4, 2005. Retrieved on December 25, 2007.
  2. ↑ Bulletin 17:2, Summer 1995 "http://www.libertarian.on.ca/bulletin/v17n2a.htm"
  3. ↑ Bulletin 18:1 Spring 1997
  4. ↑ Bulletin 28:2, Winter 2007 "http://www.libertarian.on.ca/bulletin/V28_N2%20Winter%202007.pdf"
  5. ↑ Bulletin 32:2 Winter 2011"http://www.libertarian.on.ca/winter-2011-vol-32-no-2/candidates-vote-tally-doubled-over-2007"
  6. ↑ Bulletin 1:9, September 1975
  7. ↑ Ontario general election, 1977
  8. ↑ Bulletin 7:3, March 1981
  9. ↑ Ontario general election, 1981
  10. ↑ Bulletin 11:1, spring 1985
  11. ↑ Ontario general election, 1985
  12. ↑ Bulletin 13:2, September 1987
  13. ↑ Ontario general election, 1987
  14. ↑ Bulletin 16:2 Autumn 1990
  15. ↑ Ontario general election, 1990
  16. ↑ Ontario general election, 1995
  17. ↑ Ontario general election, 1999
  18. ↑ Ontario general election, 2003
  19. ↑ Ontario general election, 2007
  20. ↑ Ontario general election, 2011
  21. ↑ http://www.libertarian.on.ca/bulletin/V30_N2_Winter_2009.pdf

External links

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