The Libertarian Party of Canada has nominated Lauren Southern for the federal riding of Langley-Aldergrove.
Lauren Southern was born and raised in Surrey and is currently living Langley. Lauren became an advocate of Libertarian values when she began discovering the works of Libertarian philosophers at a young age. She adopted the belief that the government does not know how to spend an individual’s money better than they do. Nor should the government have the right to instruct people on how to live their lives when their way of life is causing no harm to those around them.
She is currently studying political sciences at the University of the Fraser Valley and where she provides a strong voice for liberty on the campus. She previously hosted the radio show Liberty Now from the university broadcast station where she discussed current affairs from a libertarian viewpoint. Since then, she has moved on to more studies and volunteering, and is now looking for more opportunities to promote Libertarian ideals in any way she can.
Lauren plans on running a strong campaign in order to spread the libertarian message, as well as move power away from the government and back to the people. She feels strongly about issues such as corporate welfare, criminalization of victimless crimes and taxation. In promoting liberty, Lauren hopes to create a better, freer Canada for current and future Canadians.
“Government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem,” says Southern.
Libertarian leader Tim Moen
Tim Moen grew up on a farm in Northern Alberta where he learned the value of freedom, hard work, responsibility, respect for property and community. He has served his community as a firefighter, paramedic, business owner, writer, filmmaker and volunteer. In 2013 after working with Neil Young, who slammed his community and the oil sands industry, Tim gained national media attention by writing an article revealing Neil’s hypocrisy. In 2014 he ran a highly visible by-election that caught the attention of Fox Business, CNN, Reason Magazine, Gawker, This Hour Has 22 Minutes and numerous other media outlets.
Tim has extensive experience leading high performance teams and has a graduate degree in leadership where his thesis examined the ways in which high performance teams employ libertarian principles. Since Tim was elected leader of the Libertarian Party of Canada in May 2014, the Party has witnessed an explosive growth in membership, engagement and funding.
Tim has spent his career protecting life and property from mindless destructive forces. Now as leader of the Libertarian Party of Canada he is focusing his attention on the destructive force of government which has an unquenchable appetite for money and power at the expense of its citizens.
Mission
The mission of the Libertarian Party of Canada is to reduce the responsibilities and expense of government. This, so that we may each manage our lives to mutually fulfill our needs by the free and voluntary exchange of our efforts and property for the value that best realizes our happiness.
Foundation of Our Policy
The Libertarian Party of Canada founds its policy on respect – respect for the person and property of our fellow citizen. We believe that if government’s role were limited to upholding this respect, our natural tendency to fulfill our needs at the least cost would ensure an ever-increasing quality of life and the satisfaction derived from helping others would ensure social harmony.
372 Rideau Street, Suite 205
Ottawa ON K1N 1G7
Tel.: 613-288-9089
https://www.libertarian.ca/
Platform
The Economy:
The Libertarian Party of Canada stands for free market economic policies, property rights and entrepreneurship. As such, the Libertarian Party would:
Reduce federal income taxes to a maximum rate of 15% and increase the personal income tax exemption amount to $17,300 from $11,000
Eliminate all tax credits, and replace them with 4 additional exemptions, valued at $4,000 each (Child, Senior, Disability, Student)
End all forms of corporate welfare
Audit the Bank of Canada’s effect on inflation and gradually phase out government control over the money supply
Regulatory Agencies:
The Libertarian Party of Canada realizes that government regulatory agencies often do far more harm than good. These regulatory agencies ultimately hurt consumers by increasing costs and curbing competition. As such, the Libertarian Party of Canada would:
Repeal the powers of the CRTC over radio, television and communications
Eliminate the unfair price manipulation and quota system of the Dairy Board.
Reduce the CATSA and government fees for passengers coming from abroad to encourage more tourism and enterprise
Healthcare:
The official position of the Libertarian Party of Canada is that the federal government should leave the entirety of health care decisions to provincial and territorial governments. The current system costs Canadians approximately $6,000 a year, per citizen. For the average family, their healthcare tax burden will be approximately $24,000 per year. Although Canadians spend a lot on the provision of healthcare, the system is painfully slow. The median wait time for an emergency room visit in Canada is 8.8 hours, which places Canada dead last among OECD countries for timeliness of care.
Not only do Canadians spend much of their time waiting for care, the system consistently underperforms. Canada is ranked in the bottom third of OECD countries for safe care, effective care, coordinated care and patient centered care.
To overcome these issues, the Libertarian Party of Canada would:
Repeal the Canada Health Act
To ensure that healthcare is a provincial responsibility
To allow private alternatives for care and insurance, which will alleviate public wait times and the growing fiscal burden of healthcare. Provinces will be free to choose the system that best fits their needs.
Justice:
The Libertarian Party of Canada opposes the criminalization of victimless crime. As such, the Libertarian Party would re-evaluate all victimless crimes in the federal criminal code. This will allow for law enforcement to spend its time and budget on targeting and punishing violent offenders.
Sex work
The Libertarian Party of Canada would legalize sex work. Doing so respects the decisions of consenting adults, while making life safer for those who choose to engage in sex work. This policy also ensures that law enforcement can focus on human traffickers, and not its victims.
The War on Drugs
The Libertarian Party of Canada would end the war on drugs by decriminalizing the consumption and possession of drugs. The war on drugs has cost Canadian tax payers billions of dollars in enforcement and incarceration of citizens who have harmed no one besides themselves. Drugs should be dealt with through harm reduction strategies, and as a matter of public health, not through the criminal justice system. The decriminalization of illicit substances ensures that organized criminals, both domestic and foreign, cannot profit from the drug trade.
Immigration:
Immigration is an essential aspect of a growing and prosperous country. As such, the Libertarian Party of Canada advocates for a welcoming immigration policy.
More specifically, the Libertarian Party of Canada would:
Significantly decrease the bureaucratic burden for refugees and asylum seekers
Eliminate the point system for immigration and replace it with a background check for violent or fraudulent criminal activity
Eliminate the TFW program and replace it with a streamlined work visa program, and residency roll out. Granting foreign workers legal residency ensures that the Canadian economy continues to grow, without subjecting them to poor working conditions.
Create sponsorship guidelines whereby organizations and individuals can sponsor immigrants if they are willing to financially support them.
Foreign Policy:
The Libertarian Party of Canada stands for a foreign policy of honest trade, peace, and diplomacy. As such, the Libertarian Party would:
Immediately withdraw Canadian armed forces from international conflicts. The Libertarian party strongly opposes the foreign interventions of the past 13 years
Reallocate military resources for the purpose of national defence, and Arctic sovereignty.
Restructure the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development in the following way
Eliminate all forms of government foreign aid
Encourage remittances. Doing so means that aid is voluntarily given and done so without ending up in the hands of corrupt foreign governments.
Unilaterally end all tariffs on foreign goods.
Gun Ownership:
The official position of the Libertarian Party of Canada is to remove the prohibitions and legislative obstacles for the ownership of guns by peaceful citizens for the purposes of recreation, self-defence and hunting.
If elected, the Libertarian Party of Canada would:
Repeal section 91 and 92 of the Criminal Code to make responsible gun possession legal
Revise the legal definition of weapon and firearm to reflect that guns are tools when in the hands of qualified civilians
Eliminate the provincial and territorial Chief Firearms Offices as a cost saving mechanism and transfer responsible gun ownership to a certification based system
Eliminate the unfair search and seizure provisions under the Firearms Act and reverse the onus provisions so that citizens are not labelled criminals before their day in court.
Aboriginal Affairs:
The Libertarian Party of Canada recognizes the right of First Nations, Metis and Inuit peoples to meaningful autonomy and jurisdiction over their territories. This jurisdiction includes natural resources, mining rights, local economic affairs and community membership.
The Libertarian Party would:
Replace the Indian Act with a blanket guarantee of sovereignty for all indigenous groups.
End all federal restrictions and obligations on indigenous territories
Streamline the Land Claim process
Find and eliminate systemic discrimination against indigenous peoples.
Environment:
The Libertarian Party of Canada recognizes the importance of a clean and healthy environment to all Canadians. The property rights of all Canadians must be respected to ensure responsible and accountable use and preservation of our natural resources. As such, the Libertarian Party of Canada would:
Enforce property rights so individuals have full ownership over their land and the natural resources above and below it
Encourage a system whereby harm and property damage as a result of pollution can be dealt with through the judicial system
Remove eminent domain legislation by repealing the Expropriation Act