Ice Storm Woes

Since March 29, we’ve had no heat or electricity. April 4, our Generac was fixed temporarily, but it conked out again a few hours later. Full Hydro power was restored at 4 PM on April 6 🥳

Six days of chain sawing and counting…

I now have a much more intimate relationship with my Stihl chain saw than I had ever imagined. Clearing local roads and my forested property from fallen trees is now my main skill. I would add this to my resume, but my aching 73 year old back is advising against it.

Will voters miss me❓

For the first time in 9 years, voters will not see my name on their election ballot.🙁 How many will notice this❓

Elections Canada has declared me 🚫 ineligible to run as a candidate 🚫 in this federal election. Through inexperience, I had violated a federal statute for failing to submit my election 📂 Campaign Expenses Report 🗂️ correctly (I made a few errors) when I was the local PPC candidate in the 2019 federal election.

Problem resolved in Spring 2021, but not completely 🤷🏼🤓

In February 2021, a federal department responsible for Elections Campaign Financial Reporting sent me an email notifying me that my Report way not filed correctly and, consequently, failed to comply with the submission deadline. The fine was $300. I began the frustrating process of correcting the Report mistakes which was resolved in April 2021. I believed the matter to be fully resolved.

Surprise 🤪

Nothing is ever easy when dealing with the government. This is the best reason of all to avoid the attention of federal bureaucrats. True to my expectations, the excerpts from the letter I received from Ms, Bourke this past week tells the story.

Andrea Bourke (elle/la) (she/her), Senior Counsel, Office of the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada (Elections Canada), sent this email on March 31, 2025.

….responding to your inquiry regarding your ineligibility to be a candidate in federal elections pursuant to section 65(i) of the Canada Elections Act as a result of the late filing of your return for the 43^rd General Election. I understand you paid an AMP (❓) in respect of that filing and believed that would make you eligible to be a candidate in future elections. Unfortunately, section 65(i) continues to apply unless you seek a court remedy.

The (Canada Elections ) Act provides for two remedies.

The first possible remedy is that pursuant to paragraph 477.68(1)(b), a candidate or their official agent may apply to a judge, on notice to the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada (CEO), for an order authorizing an extension of time to file the Return. Subsection 477.68(2) provides…

The second possible remedy is that pursuant to section 477.7 of the Act, a candidate may apply to a judge, on notice to the CEO, to seek relief…

Administrative Paperwork is not listed as one of my main skills❗️

I admit to disliking 🤢 government forms🤮 They are not always clear and, until you have experience with something like preparing a Campaign Expenses Report, it is not unreasonable to make a mistake.

I dislike government lawyers too, and the two “remedies” offered in the email I received are an example of what I dislike.

In life, some things are guaranteed: death, taxes and regulations. 😡

Live and learn 😱

Little did I know at the time that my administrate mistakes would cost me and the constituents of Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock much more than just a fine🤯

My name was added to a candidate ineligibility list because my administrative errors amounted to the violation of a statute that I did not previously know existed. Was I expected to read and thoroughly understand the Elections Act to avoid these consequences❓

I believed the matter was resolved four years ago.

During March 2021, I was bounced between two federal departments and several administrative personnel in my efforts to resolve the matter to the satisfaction of Elections Canada. By early April, the matter was settled and even the $300 fine was waved because my errors were “rookie mistakes” and inconsequential.

2022 Federal Election.

I ran again as the local federal Libertarian candidate in 2022 without a problem. My name did not appear on any candidate ineligibility list.

2025 Federal Election.

The first time I learned that I was on the candidate ineligibility list was when I called the Returning Office on March 28, 2025, to register as an Independent candidate for the upcoming April 28 election. We scheduled a meeting for the next day.

An hour later, the Returning Officer called me to say that she found my name on a candidate ineligibility list with no reason given❗️She then gave we a number to call. After 24 hours of being routed to different federal departments, I finally found someone who could provide the explanation for my ineligibility mystery. Then she gave me another department to call. 😠

Government department hopping is one of my least favourite pastimes‼️

Just after I learned who and how to contact, I wrote a letter to plead my case and emailed it just as the ice storm was beginning to hit. A few days later, the email from Angela Bourke landed in my email inbox, but with the crisis of the ice storm, I was too busy trying to get heat, electricity, running water, and chainsawing to reply to it.

As crazy as it sounds, removing my name from the candidate ineligibility list is not as simple as one might expect. 🤷🏼😤

If I want my name removed, I must find a judge who will hear my case and grant my release from the dreaded list⛓️‍💥😳🥺

Lessons learned from this incident.

1️⃣ NO FORGIVENESS. The federal administrators and lawyers, whose positions are funded by all taxpayers, have a regulation for everything and a set of prescribed bureaucratic steps to resolve an issue - all 100% controlled by the government. None are not granted any authority to release someone from an innocent paperwork violation even though they have all of the records available to them online for the entire incident from 2019 through 2021. Even though the issue was resolved four years ago, it seems the government bureaucracy must still extract a pound of my flesh for my committing a couple of simple administrative errors.

2️⃣ POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE. Why did the Returning Officer only find my name on an Ineligibility List without any explanation for it❓ Surely a government that cared about me as a Canadian citizen, who has paid its taxes for over 60 years, would have been considerate enough to provide an explanation and a direct link to federal staff where I could get answers and, potentially, a resolution to the issue quickly⁉️

3️⃣ NO RESPECT FOR CANDIDATES. It’s hard enough to be a candidate in a democratic election without our governments adding roadblocks to the effort. Yes, I admit, I would have avoided this whole episode if I had taken a little extra time to learn how to prepare the Campaign Expenses Report properly, but I made assumptions about some of the fields in the form and guessed wrong. Unlike, the BORG parties, they are subsidized by government funding so they can afford to have experts on staff to fill out elections paperwork correctly. In 2019, the PPC was a new political party and could offer none of this expertise to candidates.

4️⃣ A JUDGE❓REALLY ⁉️ Surely a judge has better things to do than hear a case regarding a candidate’s election reporting violation from 2019‼️ To make matters worse, the deadline for candidates to register in this election is April 10; what are the chances that a judge would see me before that deadline (especially during an ice storm crisis🥺). What fees I might I incur for this meeting❓At age 73, I doubt that I will run again federally because I will be 77 when the next election comes around. I will not try to see a judge while I greatly resent this whole situation and “remedies” proposed.

My GREATEST REGRET is 4️⃣

I have run in eleven past federal and provincial elections for the following reasons;

1️⃣ My concerns about the excessive growth of our governments began in 1979. I was employed by IBM Canada and on the Ontario Government Account Team from 1978 to 1981 as a Marketing Systems Engineering Representative and later a full Marketing Representative. During those years, I met many managers in the various Ministries and witnessed lots of waste and inefficiency. Since then, laws, regulations, enforcement bureaucracies have continually expanded. Likewise for taxes and other “revenue tools” (Premier Kathleen Wynne’s term for fines, licenses, permits, and more fee-based “public services”). I became increasingly aware and vocal about the growth of the public sector as it siphoned off economic resources needed in the private sector. By 2007, I discovered and joined the Ontario Libertarian Party. It was the only party that actively campaigned to reduce the size, cost and scope of authority across public institutions.

2️⃣ I started running as an Independent candidate this year, 2025, because the Libertarian parties have never elected even one MP or MPP in 50 years, and will likely never form a government in my lifetime. I now know that I can spread Libertarian values and ideas within my electoral riding just as easily and effectively as an Independent, non-party candidate. Besides, the ‘Libertarian’ ideology is poorly understood, and often discredited, by the media and within the public at large. As an an Independent I can promote the urgency for LESS GOVERNMENT without ever mentioning the word ‘Libertarian’.

3️⃣ Since moving to the Kawartha Lakes in 2016, I have promoted my LESS GOVERNMENT platform in 3 provincial and 2 federal elections. I am known as the local Advocate for LESS GOVERNMENT. I enjoy writing and speaking about the ongoing 🆘 CRISIS of TOO MUCH GOVERNMENT 🆘. Not only has our municipal, provincial, and federal governments grown well beyond our ability to pay for them, they have racked of $Trillions in unsustainable public debt. The unfunded liabilities for government pensions and other programmes are also in desperate shape. Worse yet, a 🛑 WORLD GOVERNMENT 🛑 is taking shape with very few Canadians being aware. Several global institutions have been extracting money and other resources from Canadians with few citizens understanding the severity of the consequences. Unfortunately, these extractions are all “legitimate” due to the many treaties and other agreements, subject to international law, that our political leaders in Ottawa have signed. Canada is signing away much of its sovereignty to unelected institutions like the United Nations, World Economic Forum, World Trade Organization, the World Bank, World Health Organization, and others.

4️⃣ Sadly, on April 28, not a single resident of the Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock riding will be able to vote for LESS GOVERNMENT because by name will not be on the ballot. The BLUE - ORANGE - RED - GREEN (BORG) oligopoly of Political Power will have the political stage to themselves. The BIG and BIGGER GOVERNMENT platforms will be the only ballot options for citizens who choose to vote. The fact that voter turnout has dropped steadily since the 1970s is an indication that progressively fewer citizens see any value whatsoever in the BORG platforms and won’t waste their time to vote for them. Voter turnout has under 49% in the recent provincial election in which 431 voters chose me as their Independent representative for Less Government. At the “all candidates event” in Lindsay, I strongly suggested that Canada needs a DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) at all levels of government‼️ Will any of the BORG candidates be advocating for a DOGE❓

About the Trudeau, Schwab & Carney photo.

Dr. Claus Schwab, founder of the World Economic Forum 45 years ago, is pictured with Justin Trudeau and Marc Carney, both longtime and influential members on the WEF. The date this photo was taken is unknown but is unlikely to be recent because Claus stepped down as Chairman in 2023.

Yup. A picture is worth a thousand words. ‼️