Things have been very busy.   I’ll start by talking about Wednesday.  Basically, I was torn about the Rogers TV event.  There was some kind of opportunity for me there to speak after the debate or whatever [not to participate in the actual debate, I was not invited in other words], but I was already committed to attending Election Fest at Centennial College and I wanted to focus on finding some volunteers.   I was very pleased to meet a couple of Libertarian Party supporters there and I had a chance to set up a table and distribute flyers to the public. On Monday I was interviewed by a newspaper reporter and tonight at the Election Fest event, I also got a chance to speak to another reporter, which was great.

Here is my campaign flyer, lpc-brochure_am5, much of which is based on the LP of Canada brochure.  Just to quote some sections:

Libertarian Party of Canada – Statement of Principles:
1.  Each individual has the right to his or her own life, and this right is the source of all other rights.
2.  Property rights are essential to the maintenance of those rights.
3.  In order that these rights be respected, it is essential that no individual or group initiate the use of force or fraud against any other.
4. In order to bar the use of force or fraud from social relationships and to place the use of retaliatory force under objective control, human society requires an institution charged with the task of protecting individual rights under an objective code of rules. This is the basic task, and the only moral justification for, government.
5. The only proper functions of government, whose powers must be constitutionally limited are as follows: settling, according to objective laws, disputes among individuals, where private, voluntary arbitration has failed; providing protection from criminals; providing protection from foreign
invaders.
6. As a consequence of all the above, every individual — as long as he or she respects the rights of others — has the right to live as he or she alone sees fit, as a free trader in a free market.

What is Libertarianism?

“Libertarianism is an integrated political philosophy. Although its roots can be traced back throughout the history of ideas, it is only within the last thirty years that it has emerged as a well defined political philosophy. What it is based on is a new idea regarding the proper role of government in a free society.

“Libertarianism challenges the basic premise behind the view that what the state perceives as “the common good” should be forced on the individual – and it challenges the idea on two fronts. In the civil area, Libertarianism supports all civil liberties and opposes all attempts by government to reshape its citizens’ lives. In the economic area, Libertarianism challenges the right of government to restrict trade in any way, or to force citizens to support through taxes projects they will not willingly support on the free market.

“Libertarians do not look at government as a sacrosanct body that cannot be questioned, but simply as the agency which today makes unreasonable use of legal force. Libertarians therefore address themselves to one basic question: What is the proper justification for the use of government’s coercive power?

“The Libertarian answer is that government power must be used only to protect the individual from the use of force or fraud by others.

“Libertarians believe that the ever-growing power of the state in Canada is stifling us all.  The main problem today is that many Canadians have come to the belief that all problems can be solved by government. To counter this doctrine, Libertarians are promoting an idea, the idea of personal liberty as well as the idea of personal responsibility.”

Specific Issues of Concern

“Individual Rights: We hold that each individual has the right to exercise sole dominion over her/his life, and to live in whatever manner she/he may choose, so long as she/he does not violate the equal rights of others.

“Government’s Role: We hold that where governments exist, they should be stringently limited both in their structure and in their operations.

“Civil Order: No conflict exists between the individual’s rights to life, liberty, and property, and the government’s obligation to maintain civil order.

“Social Concerns: Government interference in current social concerns such as pollution, consumer protection, health care delivery, and poverty exceeds the level required for the protection of individual rights.

“Defence & Foreign Policy: A Libertarian government would adopt a policy of non-intervention, abstaining totally from foreign quarrels and imperialist adventures.

“Trade & Economy: The proper role of government, in this context, is to protect property rights, enforce contracts, and adjudicate disputes, providing a legal framework for the protection of voluntary trade.”

See pdf above for Libertarian Party of Canada membership and contact information.

And here is my personal “platform” or at least a summary of some key issues that are important to me:

Alan Mercer
Candidate, Libertarian Party of Canada
Scarborough—Rouge River

• Voluntary society – autonomy  – freedom
• Personal and economic freedom
• Property rights and free markets
• End Canada’s intervention in Afghanistan
• End war, bombing and torture
• Restore and protect civil liberties and privacy
• Protect our sovereignty – oppose the SPP
• Support free speech
• Support health freedom
• End marijuana and drug prohibition
• Oppose taxes, regulations and victimless “crimes”
• Support justice reform, victims’ rights, restitution, and self-defence rights

More on libertarianism:  mises.org has free e-books by Mises, Rothbard and others.  Also see ruwart.com, lewrockwell.com, and Ron Paul’s campaignforliberty.com

Authorized by the Official Agent for Alan Mercer

Next post will be on Tuesday’s events.  I’m feeling very positive about the election today.  It feels good a lot of the time to do this kind of outreach, even though I guess I must be making some people angry.  I have some hope that we will continue to build a larger freedom movement and network of volunteers across Canada.   I’m glad that there are 26 candidates for the LP of Canada running and it’s great that we’re all participating and going through the same kind of experience together.

October 9th, 2008