Freedom Flyer November 1996 Cover

Freedom Flyer 30

the official newsletter of the
Freedom Party of Ontario

November 1996




Freedom Party Supports Government Initiative on Referenda

TORONTO (September 11, 1996) - In a 30-minute official presentation to the Standing Committee on the Legislative Assembly in Queen's Park, Fp president Robert Metz and Fp Special Projects Manager Lloyd Walker offered cautious support of the Ontario government's commitment to the introduction of referenda in Ontario.

Entitled Our Ontario, Our Freedom Of Choice, Freedom Party's response was aimed at the government's prepared Consultation Paper on Referenda, entitled Your Ontario, Your Choice, which outlined a wide variety of possible options and criteria under which a referendum might be conducted.

RESTRICTIVE ENDORSEMENT:

Subject to the condition that a referendum's outcome cannot infringe upon fundamental freedoms (including property rights), Freedom Party once again went on record to endorse referenda in two specific fundamental areas of political concern: constitutional amendment and issues of taxation.

Walker applauded the government's Consultation Paper for stating that "individuals should decide their futures" and that "the function of government should be to serve a facilitate those aspirations, not to rule or constrain them."

"Absolutely right!" he told members of the Committee, which was composed of MPPs representing each of the three major Ontario political parties.

"Those are the principles that must provide the most important limitation on referenda," he continued. "Referenda should not be a tool used to contradict the purpose of government we have agreed upon. They should not be a tool used to rule or constrain the aspirations, activities, or lifestyles of individuals."

CONTROL GOVERNMENT - NOT CITIZENS

"That is the sole purpose of a referendum," emphasized Walker, "to allow citizens to rule or constrain their government."

Having established the principles upon which Freedom Party's response was based, Metz followed up on Walker's comments by outlining some of the more technical issues related to referenda, and used the opportunity to warn Commission members about the hazards inherent in the government's regulation of referenda.

FREEDOM OF SPEECH FUNDAMENTAL

"Freedom Party opposes any bans, controls, or regulation of advocacy groups or advertising, including political parties." said Metz. "However justified, these measures all effectively amount to a restriction of freedom of speech, the fundamental freedom upon which any free election depends."

Using the existing regulations of Ontario's Election Finances Commission as an example, Metz pointed out how those regulations were being applied in such a way as to inhibit political viewpoints consistent with Freedom Party's philosophy, while encouraging viewpoints with a left-wing agenda.

Metz illustrated: "The Executive Director (of the Elections Finances Commission) plainly informed me that Freedom Party would not be allowed to issue official tax receipts for any contributions we might raise to facilitate our on-going information campaign to disempower Ontario's Human Rights Commission, but that we WOULD be permitted to issue official tax receipts if we wanted to raise money to campaign for 'gender equality' in the legislature.

"If this is the type of regulation and control to which referenda might be subject," said Metz, "then all is lost, and the question of whether we have referenda or not becomes irrelevant, because we will still end up with the same kind of government."

STILL ROOM FOR REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY

Metz concluded by reminding Commission members that "there is still room for the traditional election process and for representative democracy. To that end, we have proposed the Single Transferrable Vote (STV) as the ideal means with which to achieve genuine proportionate public representation through elected officials." (Upon his request, a copy of Fp's STV proposal, written by Regional vice-president (Eastern Ontario) William Frampton, was forwarded to Committee vice-chair John Hasting following the hearing. William Frampton's arguments can also be read in his Consent #21 article, Representing the Individual ---- Elections In A Free Society).

Freedom Party's written submission included an appendix of specific responses to each of the government's twenty-one questions raised in its discussion paper.

GET THE DETAILS! Copies of Freedom Party's response to the government's Consultation Paper on Referenda are available to Freedom Party members and supporters on request. Send e-mail to e-mailor access our Feedback and Comments area for details of how to get in touch with us!




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