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Leader: Jean-Serge
Brisson
Web
Site: http://www.libertarian.ca
Platform: The
party has a statement of policies entitled Our
Policies, but no 2004 election platform appears
on the party web
site
as of May
27, 2004.
Candidates: No
list of Libertarian Party candidates appears
on the party web site as of May 27, 2004.
Party
Description: The
Libertarian Party of Canada is Canada's party
of libertarianism.
According to the party web site, the party
was not very active during 2001 and 2002. At
the end of 2002, the decision was made to start
preparing for the 2004 general election. By
February of 2003, the party had started collecting
the 100 signatures that - prior to the change
in Canada's election laws on May 14, 2004 -
were needed to register a federal political
party. The party gained "Eligible for
Registration"
status
with
Elections
Canada
on May 19, 2004,
just days before the drop of the election writ.
As
in most Libertarian Parties (click
here for a complete
list), the party membership includes both anarchists
(who favour the elimination of government - motto:
"Smash the State") and minarchists (who favour
small government - motto: "The government that
governs least governs best"). As in any country,
some (small "l") libertarians in Canada are anti-capitalist,
and some are pro-capitalist. In Canada, as in the
USA, most libertarians who join the Libertarian
Party are of the pro-Capitalist variety.
On
the basis of the party web site, one may fairly
conclude that the party is heavy on ideology (see
the party's Statement
of Principles), but light
on policy proposals (see "Our
Policies"). Among the policies that the
party has adopted, equal treatment of parents in
custody matters, and elimination of financial obligations
between former spouses, typify the party's stance
of family law. In constitutional matters, the party
proposes greater control over unconstitutional
federal
spending
through
more effective control, by the provinces, of members
of the Senate. It also promotes giving the judiciary
power to break-down inter-provincial trade barriers,
and restoring to provinces greater control over
their culture ("distinct society").
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