The Libertarian Party of Canada (french: Parti libertarien du Canada) is a federal political party in Canada founded in 1973. The party subscribes to

classical liberal Classical liberalism is a political tradition and a branch of liberalism that advocates free market and laissez-faire economics; civil liberties under the rule of law with especial emphasis on individual autonomy, limited government, econom ...

tenets, and its mission is to reduce the size, scope, and cost of government. Party policies include ending drug prohibition, ending government

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...

, lowering taxes, protecting gun rights, and non-interventionism.

History

The party was founded on 7 July 1973 by Bruce Evoy (who became its first chairman) and seven others. Evoy ran unsuccessfully for election to

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

in the 1974 federal election in the

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

riding of Rosedale. The party achieved registered status in the 1979 federal election by running more than fifty candidates. The party described itself as Canada's "fourth party" in the 1980s, but it has since been displaced by new parties such as the

Bloc Québécois The Bloc Québécois (BQ; , " Quebecer Bloc") is a federal political party in Canada devoted to Quebec nationalism and the promotion of Quebec sovereignty. The Bloc was formed by Members of Parliament (MPs) who defected from the federal Prog ...

and the

Green Party of Canada The Green Party of Canada (french: Parti vert du Canada) is a federal political party in Canada, founded in 1983 with a focus on green politics. The Green Party is currently the fifth largest party in the House of Commons by seat count. It e ...

. The party declined to join the

Reform Party of Canada The Reform Party of Canada (french: Parti réformiste du Canada) was a right-wing populist and conservative federal political party in Canada that existed under that name from 1987 to 2000. Reform was founded as a Western Canada-based protest ...

when it was formed in 1987. Many Libertarians were also attracted to provincial Progressive Conservative parties that moved to the right during the 1990s in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

under

Mike Harris Michael Deane Harris (born January 23, 1945) is a Canadian retired politician who served as the 22nd premier of Ontario from 1995 to 2002 and leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (PC Party) from 1990 to 2002. During his time ...

and in

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest T ...

under

Ralph Klein Ralph Philip Klein (November 1, 1942 – March 29, 2013) was a Canadian politician and journalist who served as the 12th premier of Alberta and leader of the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta from 1992 until his retirement in 20 ...

. The decline in the party's membership and resources resulted in

Elections Canada Elections Canada (french: Élections Canada)The agency operates and brands itself as Elections Canada, its legal title is Office of the Chief Electoral Officer (). is the non-partisan agency responsible for administering Canadian federal electio ...

removing their status as a registered party immediately before the 1997 federal election when the party failed to run the minimum fifty candidates needed to maintain its registration. Jean-Serge Brisson led the party from 22 May 2000 until 18 May 2008, when he was succeeded by Dennis Young. Young defeated outgoing party president Alan Mercer for the leadership. Savannah Linklater was elected deputy leader. In May 2011, Katrina Chowne was elected leader of the Libertarian Party. In May 2014,

Tim Moen Tim Moen () is a Canadian libertarian podcaster, blogger, activist and politician. He was the leader of the Libertarian Party of Canada from May 2014 to August 2021. Outside of politics, he is a firefighter, paramedic, business owner and filmmak ...

was elected leader of the Libertarian Party. In the 2015 federal election, the party fielded 72 candidates and solidified their position as the 6th federal party in Canada, with growth over 500% from the 2011 federal election. The next Federal Libertarian Party of Canada Convention took place in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the c ...

from 5 July through 7 July 2018, concluding on the 45th anniversary of the party. In September 2018, Moen, who had previously offered the leadership of the Libertarian Party to

Maxime Bernier Maxime Bernier (born January 18, 1963) is a Canadian politician who is the founder and leader of the People's Party of Canada (PPC). Formerly a member of the Conservative Party, Bernier left the caucus in 2018 to form the PPC. He was the membe ...

, stated that he was open to the idea of a merger with Bernier's

People's Party of Canada The People's Party of Canada (french: Parti populaire du Canada, PPC) is a right-wing populist federal political party in Canada. The party was formed by Maxime Bernier in September 2018, shortly after his resignation from the Conservative P ...

. When asked by ''

Global News Global News is the news and current affairs division of the Canadian Global Television Network. The network is owned by Corus Entertainment, which oversees all of the network's national news programming as well as local news on its 21 owned-an ...

'', Bernier indicated he had no interest in a merger.

Election results

The party also nominated a number of candidates to run in

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election ( Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to ...

s: * 1980 by-election: 1 * 1981 by-election: 1 * 1982 by-election: 1 * 1990 by-election: 2 * 1995 by-election: 1 * 2008 by-election: 1 * 2010 by-election: 1 * 2012 by-election: 3 * 2013 by-election: 3 * 2014 by-election: 2 * 2016 by-election: 1 * 2017 by-election: 4 ; Sources * ''Libertarian Party of Canada News'' (July/August 1974). 4. 1979-2006
"Parliament of Canada History of the Federal Electoral Ridings since 1867"

Leaders

References

External links

* (in English).
Libertarian Party of Canada – Canadian Political Parties and Political Interest Groups
Web archive created by the University of Toronto Libraries. {{Canadian federal political parties 1973 establishments in Ontario Classical liberal parties Federal political parties in Canada Libertarianism in Canada Libertarian parties Non-interventionist parties Organizations based in Ottawa Political parties established in 1973

History

Election results

Leaders

See also

References

External links