Freedom Flyer 23

the official newsletter of the
Freedom Party of Ontario

June 1993

VOTERS OUST NDP

TORONTO (April 1, 1993) - Freedom Party's David Pengelly garnered 0.92% of the votes cast by voters in the provincial riding of Don Mills, where a byelection was held to fill the riding's seat left vacant due to the death of Margery Ward (NDP). In a brief, low-key campaign that brought no surprises, Pengelly and a small team of volunteers managed to deliver several thousand pieces of literature in his riding, and to promote the Freedom Party message through all-candidates' meetings and the media.

"There are a lot of things that politicians would like to spend your money on," Pengelly told voters in his riding, "but I think that you should have the right to decide how your money is spent."

FOUR POLICY PRINCIPLES

Pengelly's campaign emphasized four basic changes in the way our current government operates:

End the tragic policy of universality so that we can cut government spending and direct help to those who truly need it;
Reduce the size of government to hold the line on taxes and to reduce deficits,
Create new, affordable choices in the delivery of education, health, and welfare services;
Reduce the political influence of special-interest lobby groups who continually want more money at taxpayer expense.

NDP LOSS: GOOD OR BAD?

Though only 42% of eligible voters turned out to vote, the results of the election were dramatic enough to once again illustrate the premise that most people vote against something, not for it. As expected, the strong anti-NDP sentiment that is so prevalent throughout Ontario became the overriding factor in an election that saw the third-place Progressive conservatives win the riding (with 51.9% of the vote) from the now third-place NDP (with 8.5%).

Though many may rejoice at the prospect of a defeated NDP government, there is certainly nothing to cheer about when one considers that, like the NDP, Progressive conservatives and Liberals are both committed to the same fundamental principles and policies (i.e., universality, egalitarianism, language and cultural controls, rent controls, government subsidies, etc.) that have caused the public's contempt for politicians and the whole political process in the first place. None of the three major parties have demonstrated the courage necessary to even consider any of the four policy approaches outlined above, ideas that must be considered if we ever want to see any improvement in Ontario's political picture.

In the face of Ontario's (and Canada's) looming debt and continuing deficits, the philosophy of the three major parties leaves them with few options other than higher taxes and fewer services. Ontarians are already experiencing this trend and will continue to do so until necessity forces the major parties to adopt the very policies they now refuse to consider - if they wish to remain in power.

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