I am very appreciative of the 243 votes I received in the federal election in Scarborough-Rouge River and the 100 I received in the provincial by-election, and for the support and encouragement I received.

I would like to meet with people in the community: those who voted for me, those who want to learn more about libertarianism and those who are already libertarians and would like to get involved with our Party. So, my idea is to advertise a couple of informal meetings at some point in the future. But you should also feel free to get in touch with me personally. Please let me know if you are interested in attending a meeting like this. … At the moment we have regular meetings in downtown Toronto, which you are also welcome to attend.

One of my goals is to try to create a local Libertarian association where local libertarians can select their candidate.

Libertarianism focuses on liberty, on creating a society that is organized on a voluntary basis. There is a lot I can say to explain my platform points. You may very well disagree with some points, but there is a lot of benefit in opening a dialogue. I think it takes some time to explain the libertarian philosophy. There are also differences of opinion among libertarians about various issues.

In my view, there are several reasons for reviving the Libertarian Party and running as many candidates as possible at election times and being active in between elections:

• 1) To let Canadians learn about a very positive political philosophy. To spread the libertarian message – NOT a conservative message, NOT a socialist message, NOT a “green” message – a message about self-government and individual liberty.
• (2) To strategically counter the harmful message of the other parties that governments should be making our choices for us and making us dependent on them.
• (3) To start reversing the slide that many people perceive towards a more totalitarian, socially-engineered state. And to me, a major contributor to the danger to these civil liberties is our foreign policy and how it may draw us further into wars that will lead to erosion of our freedoms.

There are many issues that may be more important to you than others, and other issues that you don’t agree with. But a Libertarian candidate allows you the opportunity to express a common point of view that there should be greater individual liberty, or that we need to preserve certain freedoms that are being lost or restore others that have been lost already, or that we need to move Canada in a libertarian direction.

So that’s why there are good reasons to build up the Libertarian Party in Ontario for the provincial election and beyond that for the next federal election. We need all the help we can get from people to create local associations, find candidates and to spread the word. Libertarians can find common ground about individual liberty, and at the same time have an opportunity to express their own points of view. I feel it’s important that we build a decentralized movement of people who can find common ground in Libertarian principles.

So it’s important to understand that it’s not necessary to vote for a candidate who “has a chance of winnning”. It’s difficult to argue with people who are only concerned with trying to defeat either the Liberals or the Conservatives. Another very legitimate reason to vote that applies in our case is to vote based on principles – to vote for the Party that most closely reflects your views – to send a message.

5% of the vote would counter the Greens. 10% of the vote would start to make the other parties very uncomfortable, and possibly someday we could approach 20% or higher depending on what issues are involved. If we have more candidates, ideally a candidate in every riding, more people will hear about the Libertarian ideal and I’m sure this ideal will get a better hearing.

It really is up to you – if you feel our society has it all wrong – it’s up to you to speak out about it. And supporting the Libertarian Party is a way to do this. I would like us to take support away from all parties and not just focus on one end of the spectrum. Taking votes away from the Conservatives or the Liberals or NDP might also put pressure on them to become more Libertarian.

So, I would ask people who are concerned about the loss of individual rights, about free speech, about property rights, and so on, to learn more about the Libertarian Party, to get involved, to get active. It can be a very positive experience. Instead of remaining silent and feeling you are the only one who thinks this way, it’s a way to find people of like mind. It’s a valuable opportunity to speak up and share your views with the public.