Daily Archives: March 9, 2013

The big draw guest at this year's Manning Networking Conference is former Republican congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul. He's best known as the world's most prominent libertarian politician.

But are libertarian values a large part of politics in Canada?

In the annual Manning Barometer report, less than 1% of Canadians identified as libertarian. This is despite the fact the majority of respondents indicated a preference for small government over big - the hallmark of libertarian philosophy.

While many small government proponents may end up siding with big tent conservative parties - like Ron Paul did throughout most of his political career - Canadians on both sides of the border also have the option of electing outright libertarians.

While not widely reported, the official Libertarian vote more than doubled in the United States' 2012 presidential election to 1.3 million votes. Their candidate was former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson.

The Libertarian Party of Canada was founded in 1973 and received registered status after fielding 50 candidates in the 1979 election.

The party has yet to capture a sizeable number of votes. In the 2011 federal election the party received 6,017 votes, down from their 1988 peak of 33,000.

"I didn't become a libertarian until 2008 because I didn't know the party existed," says Allen Small, current leader of the provincial Ontario Libertarian Party. "The most important thing we want to do is raise the profile."

Ron Paul speaks Friday morning at the Ottawa Convention Centre.

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Ron Paul headlines Ottawa Conference

Americas foremost libertarian, Ron Paul, received a standing ovation Friday from Canadian conservatives gathered for an annual conference, after a speech that advocated the abolition of central banks, income tax and social programs.

But on the sidelines of the networking conference, sponsored by the Manning Centre for Building Democracy, some Tories noted that Mr. Pauls views were disconnected from the more moderate Canadian conservative movement and the nation in general.

A survey released at the conference indicated Canadians still count on government to handle the economy.

Were not Americans in that sense [Canadians] regard government as a positive force, said longtime conservative pollster Andre Turcotte, adding that the public is looking for more innovative ways of service delivery.

Few Conservative parliamentarians attended Mr. Pauls morning speech, in which he encapsulated his views on the primacy of individual liberty and the problems with current economic models all centred on the concept of government getting out of the way of peoples lives and the free market.

Mr. Paul formerly a Republican leadership candidate and congressman is an opponent of centralized monetary policy, government support for industry, federal social programs and the regulation of illicit drugs. At home, he has advocated for the abolition of the federal Health and Education departments.

Wouldnt it be correct to assume that the fruits of your labour are also yours to keep? Mr. Paul said, interrupted by applause.

My goodness, that would be a challenging thought. What does that mean? There wouldnt be any income tax? Thats right, we wouldnt have income taxes, because it would be your money. Then everyone would start worrying then how would you pay for the government? Well, why dont we have a lot less government and we wouldnt have to worry about that. Thats what Id like.

Preston Manning, the former Reform party leader and host of the conference, later asked Mr. Paul questions but did not challenge his views. Much of the conference agenda was dominated by guests associated with the more libertarian Reform party-Canadian Alliance side of the Tory family.

But the current Conservative government under Stephen Harper has heavily branded its stimulus project the Economic Action Plan as the cornerstone of the governments agenda. Its skills programs, funding for seniors and snowmobile clubs, and various industrial subsidies would appear antithetical to Mr. Pauls non-interventionist policies.

See more here:
Conservatives warmly welcome U.S. libertarian Ron Paul in Ottawa

Follow along as the CBC's Kady O'Malley takes in the Manning Networking Conference, an annual gathering for Canadian conservatives run by the Manning Centre.

The conference draws the biggest names of Canada's conservative movement and this year features former U.S. congressman and former presidential candidate Ron Paul, who kicked off Friday's events in conversation with former Reform Party leader Preston Manning.

Paul, America's foremost libertarian, received a standing ovation Friday from Canadian conservatives gathered for an annual conference, after a speech that advocated the abolition of central banks, income tax and social programs.

But on the sidelines of networking conference, sponsored by the Manning Centre for Building Democracy, some Tories noted that Paul's views were disconnected from the more moderate Canadian conservative movement.

Few Conservative parliamentarians attended Paul's morning speech, in which he encapsulated his views on the primacy of individual liberty and the problems with current economic models all centred on the concept of government getting out of the way of people's lives and the free market.

Paul formerly a Republican leadership candidate is an opponent of centralized monetary policy, government support for industry, federal social programs and the regulation of illicit drugs. At home, he has advocated for the abolition of the federal health and education departments.

"Wouldn't it be correct to assume that the fruits of your labour are also yours to keep?" Paul said, interrupted by applause.

"My goodness that would be a challenging thought. What does that mean? There wouldn't be any income tax? That's right, we wouldn't have income taxes, because it would be your money.

"Then everyone would start worrying then how would you pay for the government? Well, why don't we have a lot less government and we wouldn't have to worry about that. That's what I'd like."

Preston Manning, the former Reform party leader and host of the conference, later asked Paul questions but did not challenge his views.

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Ron Paul talks abortion, GOP future as Tories gather in Ottawa

OTTAWA Canadas conservative movement was warned Friday that Americas war on drugs now being emulated by the Harper government with tough mandatory jail terms has been an expensive disaster that has stripped millions of people of their civil liberties.

The message came from Ron Paul, a former U.S. congressman and failed contender for the Republic presidential nomination last year.

Paul delivered the opening address to hundreds of conservatives gathered at an annual conference sponsored by the Manning Centre for Building Democracy.

A well known libertarian who is considered the godfather of the Tea Party, Paul spoke about the many dangers that citizens face when governments intrude into either the economy or their personal lives.

If you believe in liberty, you will protect economic liberty and personal liberty. They are all one and the same.

Paul said citizen freedom should extend to personal behavior and lifestyle.

If we have legalization of religious freedom, some people have this religion or that religion, and some people have no religion. Most people will accept that as rather tolerant.

But when it comes to lifestyle in the last 30 to 40 years, we have spent about five to six trillion dollars enforcing laws which I think make no sense whatsoever, (and) has caused our prisons to have more prisoners than China.

Paul blasted the irrationality of the drug laws that tell people what they can put in their mouths and what they can put in their bodies.

I think the drug war needs (to be) repealed, he said to cheers and applause from many people in the conference centre, a short walk from Parliament Hill.

Continued here:
Ron Paul warns Canada’s conservatives that the U.S. war on drugs failed