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{Lloyd Walker is Freedom Party's newly-appointed interim leader. Prior to this appointment, Walker served as Freedom Party's Manager of Special Projects and as provincial vice-president. A candidate for the party during the last three provincial elections, Walker's current role as party leader will become the first to be approved and/or contested by Fp membership. (See related coverage, elsewhere in this newsletter.)}
Political activists and leaders are neither born, nor made. They evolve.
For me, it has been twelve and a half years. Over $14,000. Untold hours of work. And I wouldn't have it any other way.
May 2, 1985. That's when my involvement with Freedom Party began. On that day, I voted for Michelle McColm, Fp's provincial candidate in London Centre, where I lived. But also on that day, I unknowingly started on a journey, a journey that has been wonderful, frustrating, exciting, tedious, fun --- and a lot of hard work. When it began, I didn't really have any idea where my relationship with Fp would lead, or what it might involve. It was an evolution, one I shared with Freedom Party.
Voting was but the first step of my journey. I took my second step when I talked to a fellow named Gordon Mood, who was manning a Freedom Party booth at the Western Fair in London. Four months had passed since my vote. Why so long? I can't really say. I think it had more to do with my personal situation than anything else, because I just knew that the vote I cast "for" Freedom Party was perhaps the most honest vote I had ever made in my 30 year life.
Step three: A few weeks after speaking with Gord, I visited Fp's office, which was then located in downtown London. The climb up those three flights of stairs was worth it. Gord was there (thank goodness, a familiar face!), as were two others, Bob Metz and Marc Emery. Soon, after talking with the three of them, I realized that we had a great deal in common. Call it a shared belief, philosophy, attitude, or values, I felt a common bond that was undeniable.
A short while later I visited the office again.
Then a shorter time passed, and I was back up there again.
And so on.... Time between visits became shorter. Lengths of visits became longer.
Such was the beginning of a personal evolution of activity that has now brought me the honour of being Freedom Party's interim party leader in 1997. I cannot claim it was an uninterrupted evolution. There were certainly times when other things occupied my life, and my activity with Fp necessarily declined. There were times when I was readily available and my activity peaked. But overall, my degree of involvement has steadily increased.
In many ways, my experience is a microcosm of Freedom Party's own evolutionary involvement in Ontario politics.
Thirteen and a half years. Over half a million dollars. Thousands of volunteer hours. In 1984, the year of Fp's founding, contributions to the party totalled $8,900. In 1996, contributions totalled $63,400. Since our founding, over 18,000 votes have been cast for Freedom Party. A movement started by a handful of people now has over 2500 supporters.
Certainly not a revolution. But an evolution.
But do those numbers tell the whole story? Not even close. What they do not measure is the impact Fp has had in the political marketplace. They don't say anything about the non-statistical results of Fp's activities --- just as telling you the number of hours I've spent in Fp's office this year (if I even knew) wouldn't give you a true picture of what I've accomplished.
Statistics are not the only measure used in politics. They may be a measure of electoral success but they don't tell the whole story. For proof, consider the influence the NDP has had on politics in Canada. Statistics alone would tell you that the NDP has never formed the government of Canada. But if we let these statistics convince us that the NDP hasn't had any effect on government policy in Canada, we'd be making a big mistake, and gravely underestimating the influence of that party. Similarly, when measuring Freedom Party's influence, numbers alone don't do the job.
Another measure of our success is in your hands. Literally. Freedom Flyer, our party newsletter, is primarily an accounting of what we have done. Take the time to peruse through some of our past issues; you'll discover an incredibly varied list of accomplishments that just continue to grow over the years.
Just look at some of the highlights:
Four provincial elections and a number of byelections; numerous official submissions to government panels; dinner events to honour people fighting for freedom, people like Ron Leitch, Gordon Domm, Paul Magder, William Trench, Joe Armstrong, Michael Emerling, Walter Block, and William Peterson; numerous workshops and events celebrating Freedom Party and helping our supporters become better activists for freedom; our participation in debates on television, radio, and in school classrooms; the growing use of Freedom Party as a resource for comments and research by the major media; numerous issue-related campaigns, including: No-Tax for PAN-AM, Yes to Freedom of Choice in Sunday Shopping, campaigns relating to unions, monopoly government services, BIA's, official bilingualism, drug laws, constitutional reform, electoral reform, racism and discrimination, health care, justice, taxes, pollution, censorship, and so much more!; and the development of our superb internet website. (I must say, without sounding like I'm beating my own drum, that Fp's site offers more value to its visitors than any of the websites belonging to the other parties in Canada.)
In addition to all of this and more, let's not forget that Freedom Party publishes not one, but two newsletters. Does any other party in Canada have anything comparable to Freedom Flyer and Consent? You know as well as I do that the answer to that question is an emphatic NO!
We have a track record to be proud of. A track record to brag about. A track record we should --- and do --- brag about. Our Record of Action and every back-issue of our newsletters are available in print and on our website. If anyone doubts that Freedom Party is a party of principle, they have only to look at the evidence.
Where do we go from here? Our evolution must continue. We must build upon the groundwork laid so far.
As Freedom Party's new interim leader, I already have two key objectives in mind: Double Fp's income in the next 2 years; Quadruple the number of candidates we field in the next provincial election. These are two goals I believe we must reach. To build our credibility as an electable entity we must field more candidates.
One simple reason many people don't --- or cannot --- vote for Fp is because, so far, we have only fielded a low number of candidates. In 1985, Fp fielded three candidates. In 1995, twelve. If we do not field the necessary number of provincial candidates to form a government (at least 51 under the new riding distributions) we seriously compromise our electability. The average voter is reluctant to vote for a party that is not "a contender". Electoral expectations aside, fielding roughly quadruple the number of candidates, let's say 52, will be an accomplishment that demonstrates our serious commitment to shaping the political environment of Ontario.
Why double the money? Because running in the next provincial election won't be possible without it. 52 candidates need a lot of money to run effective campaigns, over $10,000 in candidate deposits alone.
How will we be able to do this? There's only one way I know of. I'm counting on you to get involved. Through my own experience with Freedom Party, it soon became obvious that if I demonstrated a willingness to put in some work and take initiative, party supporters would be there to help. That was a big part of my personal choice to stay involved with Fp. The same holds true today. Only now, I'm one of the helpers.
Do you have ideas? Share them. Your suggestions may well turn a key that opens a door of opportunity to us. Do you have an issue or project that you would like to see pursued? Call us. We can help. Do you have time? Volunteer it. We need all the help WE can get, too. Do you have money? Contribute. With the generous tax-credits Ontario offers, there's no reason why each of us can't afford to chip in. Every penny counts --- and adds up.
To effect change, we all must ACT, be it in providing ideas, contributing money, volunteering to help out, leading a campaign, running as a candidate, etc. Through Freedom Party, we all have the opportunity to become leaders. I encourage you to seize that opportunity, exploit your own potential, and help create a better and freer Ontario at the same time.
Taking the first step is the hardest part, and for many of you, I know, it seems a revolutionary one to take. But rest assured, once taken, you'll discover, as I did, that the next step is infinitely easier.
The rest is evolution.
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last updated on April 28, 2002
