Libertarian Party of Canada


The Libertarian Party of Canada is a federal political party in Canada founded in 1973.

History

The party was founded in July 1973 by Marshall Bruce Evoy. The party's founding convention, attended by 64 delegates and modeled on the 1972 Founding Convention of the United States Libertarian Party and the Libertarian Alternative of Alberta's September 1973 rally in Edmonton, took place in Toronto in October 1973; Sieg Pedde was elected leader. Evoy ran unsuccessfully for election to Parliament in the 1974 federal election in a Toronto district (Canada)|riding].
The party achieved registered status in the 1979 federal election by running more than fifty candidates. The party spent $45,818 on the 1984 Canadian federal election running 72 candidates and received 0.2% of the vote.
Stanisław Tymiński, who was briefly the party's leader from 1990 to 1991, ran for President of Poland in the 1990 and 1995 elections.
Tim Moen became the party's leader in May 2014, succeeding Katrina Chowne.
In the 2015 Canadian federal election, Lauren Southern was the Libertarian candidate in the district of Langley–Aldergrove. She was briefly removed by the party as a candidate but was reinstated with support from Breitbart News and Rebel Media. She received 535 votes, or 0.9% of the total.
In September 2018, Moen, who had previously offered the leadership of the Libertarian Party to Maxime Bernier, stated that he was open to the idea of a merger with Bernier's People's Party of Canada. When asked by Global News, Bernier indicated he had no interest in a merger.
Jacques Boudreau succeeded Moen as the party's leader in August 2021.

Ideology

The party subscribes to libertarian and classical liberal tenets; its stated mission is to reduce the size, scope, and cost of government. Having stated that the party "wouldn't criminalize much except murder and theft", policies include ending drug prohibition, ending government censorship, open borders, lowering taxes, protecting gun rights, legalising sex work, free trade and non-interventionism.
The statement of principles adopted by the founding convention in 1973 called for a new Canadian Constitution to supersede the British [North America Act] and for privatization of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and the Royal Mail Canada through their sale. No consensus could be reached at the time on age of majority, capital punishment and abortion.