Liberate Ontario on October 6, 2011

This is my first blog, and you can expect it to be the first of many in the months ahead as I hope that their content will stimulate an interesting exchange of political ideas and visions of a society that promotes greater individual freedoms.

I have started blogging in support of my election bid as the Libertarian candidate for Thornhill in the Ontario provincial election on October 6.

Of course, I have no illusions regarding my changes of getting elected. I have chosen to run as the Libertarian candidate solely to raise awareness, in a small and personal way, of an issue that has eaten at me for too many years. The issue is: How can anyone claim to live in a democracy when the option of less government is never presented on the ballot at election time?

For the past 30 years, I have always "voted Conservative" because it appeared to be the option closest to my real desire which was for lower taxes and much smaller, less invasive government. However, regardless of the party in power, I have witnessed the steady propagation and metastasis of the cancer of government at all levels. What this now means is that a baby, born in Ontario, takes its first breath owing its share of our collective government debt which amounts to about $150,000 ! This kind of inter-generational theft cannot go on if we wish to look in the mirror and see the face of an honest, fair and moral human being.

Don't get me wrong. I understand that incurring debt is an appropriate thing to do at certain stages of one's life… buying a home, for example. But I cannot conceive of a circumstance that, being anything short of life-threatening, could justify an excuse to foist a debt of $150,000 on an infant.

As the Libertarian candidate for Thornhill, my goal is simply to pose questions to voters that will lead them to consider how much government they are willing to tolerate in their lives, and to explore ways in which we can reign in, and reverse, the government sprawl that has manifested the high taxes and questionable value of the monopoly-delivered public services that we must all endure.

I know that many of you will not agree with my views, and I accept this. However, I suspect that there are many people like me who want less government and have either never had the option presented to them at election time, or else they have lost faith and/or interest in voting because the option they desired most did not exist. I hate to think that your vote for me would be a 'protest vote' against the status quo, but if this is what would motivate you to add your voice to a growing number of citizens who desire less government at Queens Park, then I welcome your support. Even an outcome of as few as 1000 Thornhill ballot 'smaller government voices' on October 6 will get the attention of the other major parties and, whoever wins the election will surely take note that it will not be wise to take the sizable Libertarian vote lightly.

If truth be told, it does not matter much to me which party is elected just so long as that party works towards smaller, less intrusive government footprints in my backyard. Four years ago, I vowed that I would never enter a ballot booth again if the option of less government was not presented. For now, I have chosen to offer my name and my time to present this option to you under the Libertarian banner - a first for the Thornhill riding. My hope is that this gesture, combined with a lot more future work, debate and discussion, will one day lead to elections where smaller government, lower taxes and a more streamlined, citizen-friendly public sector is standard fare on the election menu.

Join me on this quest and take the first small steps to Liberate Ontario and vote for the Ontario Libertarian Party on October 6 .