Freedom Flyer 28

By JANE SIMS
Free Press Election Team

Choice, as we know it, does not go far enough for Robert Metz.

The president and chief policy adviser of the London-based Freedom party says individual choices are restricted by too much government.

What you want individually is important and acting in your own self-interest, without government intervention, is not a bad thing, Metz says.

"If we want to have a society where people can coexist with different beliefs and different opinions, we must, above all, protect our right to disagree with each other," he says.

This is the underlying philosophy of the 10-year-old Freedom party, which embraces a a conservative ideology, some of it outlined in the work of novelist Ayn Rand. While political pundits try to peg the party on a political spectrum, Metz says what makes the Freedom party different is that it defies political labels and exists outside the scale.

"If people perceive us as right-wing, they would only do so because of our economic policies," he says. "If they looked at our social policy... they certainly wouldn't see (us) as right-wing."

"We see ourselves on the road towards freedom, not away from it. We regard both right and left philosophies as moving toward more government."

PROPERTY RIGHTS: The Freedom party wants less government and more 'individual freedom - private property rights, freedom of association, freedom of speech - "fundamental freedoms which each of the parties is systematically dismantling."

The message of individual freedom is spreading, party organizers say. With 12 registered candidates and a slick campaign plan, Metz says their message is getting stronger through their consistent political action, including tax fights.

"We've been involved in everything from human rights issues to labor issues to tax issues to censorship and freedom of speech issues." he says.

The Freedom party has kept up a presence between elections through newsletters and activist causes. "The day after the election, we are still going to be here campaigning. We've got about 20 issues on the burner right now."

Metz says the party has no unrealistic expectations about being elected. "When we started the party in 1984, we figured it would be 20 years before we would be a credible party in the electable sense. We knew that not being elected, it's hard to gain credibility."

POSITION OF INFLUENCE: Instead, the party has lobbied and networked with other parties to pick up on their agenda. "We're quite happy to have any party steal our platform," Metz says. "We figure as a position of influence, we tend to get very much more deeply involved with issues than what you would get from a political party. We don't do it on a surface level, we get right into it."

"What we find unique in this election is that the other parties are talking like us," he says. "The last election they weren't."

While voters ponder their choices on the ballot, Metz says, his party will continue its fight for universal choice. Success, he says, will be a growth in the party's mailing list and vote total and a legacy after the election. "The election after this is the one where we're going to get very serious in the sense of actually expecting some of our candidates to get in."

ABOUT THE PARTY

Leader:Jack Plant, a London fire prevention inspector.

Philosophy:Libertarian in the classical sense, the party believes in freedom of choice in almost every area of public policy and a minimal role for government but with greater public accountability. Key policy positions include a balanced budget law; electoral reform; privatization of many government services; an end to universality in social programs; spending cuts to quickly wipe out the provincial deficit; tax increases only with voter approval by referendum; and freedom for people to choose the type of education and health-care coverage they want rather than being limited to Ontario's publicly funded options.

Track record: Formed in 1984, the party won 0.2 per cent of the Ontario popular vote in 1990, with candidates in 10 of 130 ridings, six in the London area.

This campaign: More than a dozen candidates are expected to run, including eight so far in the London area.

Quote: "The Ontario Human Rights Commission (which the Freedom party would scrap) is basically the government's Gestapo," says party president Robert Metz of London. "They exist to violate human rights - not to uphold them."