A message from Leader, Freedom Party of Ontario

The early release of Freedom Party of Ontario's 2007 election platform - a full two years prior to the next provincial election - serves several purposes. It provides a standard by which to judge the other parties’ election platforms; it gives you time to investigate Freedom Party’s proposals further; it demonstrates our confidence that this election platform will withstand criticism. Although no other party has yet released an election platform for Ontario’s 2007 election, I believe I can already say with confidence that the proposals set out in this platform are different from, and better than, any you might eventually see coming from the Progressive Conservatives, the Liberals, or the NDP: three parties trying desperately to get elected without upsetting their union and corporate funders.

That said, a political party’s values, not its election promises, are your surest guide to the sort of government each party would form. It is at that level - the level of values - that Freedom Party is most clearly distinguishable from the Liberals, the Progressive Conservatives, the NDP and other political parties.

There are those who say that there is no such thing as right and wrong; that what is right for one person might be wrong for another; that everything is relative and subjective; that nothing is black and white; that everything is shades of gray. Tellingly, they feel absolutely certain that they are right.

Such people are easily recognized in the political world. They propose that feelings should trump reason; that emotional whims should prevail over what reason tells us is ethical; that justice is “too judgmental” and “unfair”; that democracy is just another word for majority rule; that freedom means not having to take responsibility for ones own life and happiness. They are the first to demand that nobody judge them, and that nobody be judged. Indeed, their wish to do wrong without being held to account is the very reason why they pretend that there is no such thing as right and wrong.

Not everyone shares that dishonest and self-serving view of how society should be. There are those of us who believe that rationality is the essence of civility. We believe that right and wrong is black and white, and that there is only one word for a compromise between right and wrong: corruption. We do not fear judgment because we do not wish to do injustice to anyone. We advocate democracy for what it truly is: a system in which government must be judged by the same ethical code as the governed because it is comprised of the governed, and acts on no other authority; a system in which government cannot make unjust laws, even when a majority wants it to do so. We advocate freedom because we acknowledge and accept personal responsibility for our own lives and happiness, and because we know it is ethically wrong and unjust for us to be forcibly deprived of our lives, our liberty or our property.

We are as the white tiger, whose stripes make no corrupt compromise between right and wrong. Freedom is our unmoving pole star and point of reference. We seek government that navigates a course to a more rational, good, and just society using not the whimsical winds of public opinion, but a compass that points government in the right direction.

Freedom Party is a uniquely principled organization formed for and by equally principled individuals, like you. It is an organization whose members demand a government that defends civilization: a society distinguished by its optimistic, peaceful and hope-filled pursuit of happiness rather than a jungle plagued by a pessimistic, nasty fear of a worsened life. To proudly support Freedom Party is to tell the world, unequivocally, that you hold rationality, ethics, justice, democracy and freedom as values upon which you will make no compromise.

As we approach the election of 2007, your proud support for Freedom Party is more important than ever. When you have finished reading Freedom Party's 2007 election platform, I hope that you will show it to others with your full and confident endorsement (you can send them an e-mail that gives them the address for the platform page, or even save and e-mail the platform to them as an attachment). Word of mouth, coming from those who demonstrate a belief in the honest and peaceful pursuit of happiness, is our greatest and most powerful tool for freedom. Thank you.