I think I did better with some of the live unrehearsed questions in the middle.  I didn’t have a pen so I lost my train of thought once or twice.   The audience was mostly there supporting their candidates – Greens, NDP, Liberals, but the journalists may have paid more attention.  I managed to get a little more applause towards the end.   I explained about how the Liberals keep the kids in school until they’re 18, and how they should be encouraged to work and start businesses if they don’t want to be in school.  I explained how immigrants and young people are kept out of employment by professional monopolies and by minimum wage laws.   The other parties just loved minimum wage, boy.  They just love it.    I think the audience were totally confused when I challenged it, but I kept trying to get through to them.    And rent control laws?!    Crappy housing for the poor and more resources in the market go to the luxury housing of course.   And I think I did my best explaining property rights and a libertarian approach to the environment.

I’m able to give a rough idea of where the other candidates stand on the freedom question – nowhere at all!

Liberal: firmly entrenched – in power forever.  All sorts of programs lined up for the environment and the economy – for controlling peoples’ lives.

NDP:  I listened carefully to her comments on littering and smokers, and based on those comments, the NDP objectively is the second most controlling and tyrannical party next to the Greens.  I still see hope with some of their followers  in terms of rejecting controls on people.

Tories:    this is the party that some libertarians claim to be undermining from within.  From my perspective, better work a bit harder at that, guys!   Totally status quo.   Nice elderly gentleman, means no harm.  The Tories – “red” or “blue” – they have color codes – are the natural ruling party of Ontario and if they could get back in power, they would continue their big government, corporatist ruling class programs such as their proposed government take-over of religious schools.

Greens:   it’s not the “left-wing” type of environmentalism. It’s a sort of a manic Torified version of “green” where they use as many “market” techniques as possible and the tax system (and I would imagine intensive police powers ) to control people and make Ontarians live exactly as the Greens would prefer.  I’m happy to call it “right-wing” if people want to use these meaningless labels.  So “left” means controlling people and “right” means controlling people.   Pick your poison: red, orange, blue or green.

I notice people call the Libertarian Party “right-wing” – this is the false left right paradigm – and I swear I really don’t want to be associated with these other parties in any sense.    ”Right” is associated with authoritarianism and right-conservatives belong on the same spectrum as these other authoritarian left-wing parties.  Libertarians advocate liberty and should be outside this spectrum.   Definitely I felt isolated – yes, out on a limb.

The Ontario electorate are totally starved of any knowledge of libertarianism and [many] libertarians are completely wrong for dissing politics. [Note: Nov. 2014: Nowadays I wouldn’t say this]    Libertarians could have a huge positive effect in Canada if they got involved with running as candidates provincially and federally.   People really need to hear the alternative message.  Elections are a completely wasted opportunity by libertarians in Canada and we don’t have huge obstacles at the moment like the U.S. LP has in the States.  So that’s my answer to Stefan Molyneux.   And I’ve got more to say about that.

I’ve included my intro and closing speeches only.  Not much time for those and kind of clumsy:

I want to thank the Malvern Community Coalition for hosting this event.

My name is Alan Mercer and I’m running for the Ontario Libertarian Party.   There is more info on the Toronto Star website and at canadianliberty.com.

I ran in the last provincial by-election, also in the federal election and I’m working to help build the libertarian political movement in Canada.

The reason why I’m running is to completely contradict the authoritarian agendas of the other parties – their smoking bans, their interference with landowners, their use of the schools to imprison older teens as the Liberals have done.

Libertarian means choice and freedom when it comes to everything – including taxes, health care and education.

Libertarian means justice reform and a society based on the protection of personal rights and property rights.
The other major parties don’t care about your freedom.

If you want a free society, support the message of the Libertarian Party.
Closing:

You may not have heard the word Libertarian before.

It means Liberty or Freedom.

Like Ron Paul who is running for president.

Libertarian means self-ownership and property rights

It means government is our servant and not our master.

The other parties stand for authoritarianism and interfering in our lives.

Libertarian stands for justice reform, for restitution for victims of crime.

For educational choice and independence.

For health care choice and freedom. For a voluntary society.

The others stand for tax slavery and social engineering.

But the Libertarian Party stands for choice and freedom.

For more info, go to canadianliberty.com or libertarian.on.ca

September 30th, 2007