Ontario Libertarian Party

Ontario Libertarian Party
Parti libertarien de l'Ontario
Active provincial party
Leader Allen Small
President Mark "Wojo" Wrzesniewski[1]
Founded 1975 (1975)
Headquarters Toronto, Ontario
Ideology Libertarianism
Colours Yellow
Website
www.libertarian.on.ca

The Ontario Libertarian Party (OLP; French: Parti libertarien de l'Ontario) is a minor political party in Ontario, Canada that was founded in 1975 by Bruce Evoy, Vince Miller, and others,[2] 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.[3][4] 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.

In 1980 several members of the party, unhappy with its direction and democratic structure, left and formed the Unparty. These members were Lisa Butler, former OLP chair Mary Lou Gutscher, Bill McDonald and Paul Wakfer. 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.

Election results

The party's most successful election was in the 2014 general election when the Liberals won. Libertarian candidates received 0.8% of the vote. Libertarian candidates came in fifth behind the Green, PC, Liberal and NDP candidates.[5]

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.[6]

The demise of the Reform Party and the replacement of Mike Harris with Ernie Eves helped the party to regain membership. 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.[7]

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.[8]

Year of election # of candidates # of seats won # of votes % of popular vote
1975 17[9] 0 4,752
1977 31 0 9,961
1981 12[10] 0 7,087
1985 17[11] 0 12,831 0.4%
1987 25[12] 0 13,514 0.36%
1990 45[13] 0 24,613 0.61%
1995 7 0 6,085 0.15%
1999 7 0 2,337 0.05%
2003 5 0 1,991 0.04%
2007 25 0 9,249 0.21%
2011 51 0 19,387 0.45%
2014 74 0 37,696 0.8%

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

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 2014 Leadership Convention:

1 vacancy - http://www.libertarian.on.ca/content/party-officers

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) [14]

Party leaders

See also

References

Bulletin is the newsletter of the Ontario Libertarian Party.

  1. ↑ Party Officers: Ontario Libertarian Party http://www.libertarian.on.ca/content/party-officers. Retrieved 3 May 2016. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. ↑ Miller, Vince. "Taking Liberty Global", August 4, 2005. Retrieved on December 25, 2007.
  3. ↑ "Statement of Principles". Retrieved May 17, 2014.
  4. ↑ "Think like a libertarian in 30 days or less!". Retrieved May 17, 2014.
  5. ↑ Bulletin 17:2, Summer 1995 "http://www.libertarian.on.ca/bulletin/v17n2a.htm"
  6. ↑ Bulletin 18:1 Spring 1997
  7. ↑ Bulletin 28:2, Winter 2007 "http://www.libertarian.on.ca/bulletin/V28_N2%20Winter%202007.pdf"
  8. ↑ Bulletin 32:2 Winter 2011"http://www.libertarian.on.ca/winter-2011-vol-32-no-2/candidates-vote-tally-doubled-over-2007"
  9. ↑ Bulletin 1:9, September 1975
  10. ↑ Bulletin 7:3, March 1981
  11. ↑ Bulletin 11:1, spring 1985
  12. ↑ Bulletin 13:2, September 1987
  13. ↑ Bulletin 16:2 Autumn 1990
  14. ↑ http://www.libertarian.on.ca/bulletin/V30_N2_Winter_2009.pdf
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