OLP Convention 2024
Yesterday, the Ontario Libertarian Party held its annual convention in Bowmanville. A new Executive Committee was elected and the Ethics Committee gained a new member. The future was discussed.
The annual OLP Convention took place on November 23 in Bowmanville. Members participated in person and by Zoom. Below, I share my life lens on this event.
Great speakers
The guest speakers were a refreshing change from previous conventions. They represented the grass roots growth of citizen activism and anti-institutional sentiment which began long ago but ramped up in earnest around early 2020 . A deluge of pandemic scare-mongering campaigns has infested Canadian culture led by many institutions like the World Health Organization, the Government of Canada, the traditional corporate media enterprises, the provincial and municipal governments, and virtually all elected politician. Those institutional bodies were joined by a vast number of citizens who loved to point accusing fingers at others who refused to accept the “official” narratives coming from all of the above.
Leader Mark Snow kicked off the day
Mark began the day with good news. He announced the end of his legal battles with the federal government which started during the 2021 Trucker Convoy to Ottawa. As you may recall, Justin “the terrible” Trudeau had authorized a witch hunt to round up everyone who disagreed with his pandemic commands. Mark, with absolutely no resemblance to a broomstick-riding witch, was arrested and reported to Justin’s vassals who suggested Mark be burned at the stake. To our great relief, Mark suffered only mild smoke inhalation damages and did not melt like a Wicked Witch of the West over the past three years of legal harassment.
Frank’s Economic Charter
Next, Dr. Kerstin Kelly took the podium or, should I say ‘commanded the stage’. With her trademark passion and conviction. Kerstin delivered a compelling list of reasons for every OLP member to join the ‘coalition’ of the Stronach Foundation for Economic Rights (www.EconomicCharter.ca/join). Frank Stronach, at an energetic age 92, has engaged Dr. Kelly to entice every Canadian who wants a much better Canada to join his coalition. Under his Economic Charter of 7 policy recommendations, Frank believes Canada can rise up like a phoenix to undo the Trudeau catastrophe of the last nine years. I’m riding the tail feathers of that phoenix. I hope you will too.
Maggie shows the way.
Not to be outdone, Maggie Braun of kickei.ca and gather2030.ca fame impressed the audience with her lobbying successes at the municipal government level. Ms. Braun has amassed a large following of patriots to push back against a globalist juggernaut which threatens every Canadian. Unelected globalist interlopers have been seeding our public institutions with Trojan Horse actors who insert creeping digital communism into those offices of power using scaremongering tactics based on the flawed Climate Change Crisis Theory (CCCT). Anyone with even a fundamental understanding of the related sciences knows with certainly that the CCCT is just a scam which generates widespread and irrational fear to lull millions of science illiterates into a state of unquestioning obedience to the world’s wealthiest and most powerful elites.
Maggie twisted my arm to present a deputation this week to the City of Kawartha Lakes regarding its proposed 312-page 2024 Annual Report. One stated 2025 “priority” is to create and implement a Climate Change Strategy. With a room full of witnesses to Maggie’s arm twisting, I succumbed to her request and I am preparing a 5-minute deputation to Council at a special public meeting on Tuesday using the excellent materials she has prepared for the purpose (available on her website).
Banking through insurance.
Next up was Scott Cordier, a Life Insurance broker, and Mike Sadhu (over Zoom) who delivered a professional presentation on the Infinite Banking Concept (IBC). They explained how a whole life insurance policy can help anyone “become your own banker”
I know others who have investigated this scheme and advised that IBC is not for everyone. It may be suitable for some people depending on age and personal circumstances. As a sales presentation, the IBC presentation was done well. It appeals to libertarian-minded people who want financial and tax freedom from the exploitation of governmental and financial institutions.
Elections
Following lunch, elections were conducted for the Executive and Ethics Committees. Mark Snow remains Leader, no surprise. Other positions were filled with familiar faces and some new ones. The full list of results will be listed at libertarian.on.ca.
The OLP’s future?
The final session was an open discussion led by me.
I have long advised that the OLP rebrand itself as the Less Government Advocates of Ontario and dropping the widely misunderstood and demonized ‘libertarian’ word in the Party name. I am as proud of the libertarian ideology as anyone, but I have come across far too many voters who don’t have a clue about libertarianism or believe the lies that it represents some undefined “far right” extremism.
The OLP celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2025.
I believe this to be a good time to reflect on the OLP’s past methods and assess if they have produced the kind of electoral results that one might expect from 50 years of effort.
I also suggested the OLP shift focus to the kind of grass roots activism put forth by Dr. Kerstin Kelly and Maggie Braun. I invited them both to the convention to inspire more “boots on the ground” activism by Libertarians.
My rationale?
Consider that all OLP members have joined as concerned citizens who want change. However, the OLP only becomes active every has four years to prepare for elections. The OLP is dormant for the three years in between. This time can be well spent in activist causes that meet Libertarian ideas of a better Canada.
The discussion proved there remains a great deal of loyalty to the Libertarian name within the OLP leadership. This, coupled with the belief that the Party’s sole mission is to be a political party, means that the focus will likely remain on fielding as many ballot candidates as possible in every election. Traditional campaign goals and methods will remain the path forward.
While the OLP Executive Committee will remain committed to its mission as a registered political party, there is nothing to stop individual OLP members from becoming more engaged in activism through organizations led by people like Maggie Braun and Dr. Kerstin Kelly. I wondered after the discussion, however, if some of the new OLP Executive Committee members might eventually express an interest in exploring “partnerships” with activist “freedom groups”. Surely, synergies will be found that could be of mutual benefit to all stakeholders. If this shift comes to pass and receives unanimous support within the EC, I will likely volunteer my time and experience to Mark Snow to support that cause.
My Takeaway
For me, OLP Convention 2024 has been the most hope-inspiring annual meeting since 2017 when the EC was committed and organized to help leader Allen Small field 117 candidates. That achievement provided over 95% of Ontario voters at least one “less government” ballot choice, the OLP. The vote totals per candidate in all electoral ridings were no better than in past elections, however. They typically ranged from 1.2 to 1.8% of the popular vote.
I am left wondering though: if those 117 candidates had been listed as ‘LESS GOVERNMENT ADVOCATES of Ontario’, would they have received more or fewer votes?
Testing the hypothesis.
I’d like to test that question. Next election, I may run as Independent for Less Government to see if it produces more votes than in the past. I have never reached 2% of the popular vote in nine (federal and provincial) elections as a Libertarian candidate. [I did, however, exceed 2% as a PPC candidate federally in 2019].
For my “control” case, consider that I have run 3 times as a Libertarian in my home riding of Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock riding. If I run next time as an Independent for Less Government and exceed 2%, it would support my theory that this change in name and shift to more publicly visible activism may be worth serious consideration by the newly elected EC or the OLP.