The Ontario Libertarian Party is a political party in Ontario, Canada that was founded in 1975 as an offshoot of the Libertarian Party in the USA. It is inspired by the philosophical ideas of such authors and thinkers as Jan Narveson, anarcho-capitalist socio-economic ideas of Murray Rothbard. The party's current leader is Sam Apelbaum.

It claimed, for a time, to be Ontario's fourth party, but has been surpassed in popularity by the Freedom Party of Ontario, the Green Party of Ontario and the Family Coalition Party of Ontario.

The Ontario Libertarian Party split in 1980 when the Unparty was formed. In 1984, under the leadership of Marc Emery and Robert Metz, the Unparty's name and nature changed: it became the Freedom Party of Ontario.

The Ontario Libertarian Party lost support with the rise of Mike Harris and his Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario in the 1990s.

The party is associated with the Libertarian Party of Canada.

Recent election results

The party's most successful election was the 1990 election, in which the OLP candidates won 24,613 votes or 0.61% of the vote. In the 45 ridings where the OLP ran candidates, the party averaged 547 votes or 1.76% of the total. In eight of the election races, OLP candidates came in fourth behind the PC, Liberal and NDP candidates. Top OLP vote getters were Shapton, 5.1% of the vote in Dufferin-Peel; Galster, 4.5% in Scarborough-Agincourt; McLean, 3.4% in Simcoe East; and Hunt, 3.0% of the vote in Riverdale.

In 1995, under the leadership of John Shadbolt, the party's total vote declined to 6,085 votes. The top candidate was Robert Ede in York Centre, with 1,792 votes (2.31%). Three other candidates - Party Chairman Jean-Serge Brisson, Vice-Chairman Kaye Sargent, and Paul Barker - topped 1%.

Shadbolt resigned one day after the 1995 election, and was replaced by George Dance on an interim basis. Sam Apelbaum was chosen as the party's full-time leader at a convention in late 1996.

Executive Committee of the Libertarian Party

As of the party's last convention, November 1, 2003, this was the Executive Committee.

• Leader- Sam Apelbaum
• Deputy Leader- Kaye Sargent
• Chairman- George Dance
• Vice-Chair- Heath Thomas
• Secretary- Nunzio Venuto
• Recording Secretary- Vacant
• Treasurer- Jim McIntosh
• Campaign Director- Vacant
• Members at Large- John Shaw, Mike Yurick
• Ethics Committee- Paddy McQuade , Bob Shapton , Jan Narveson, Peter Cuff , Jean Serge Brisson

Party Leaders

(Note: This list is incomplete.)

• John Shadbolt (?-June 9, 1995)
• George Dance (interim) (June 9, 1995-1996)
• Sam Apelbaum (October 1996-)

See also

• List of Ontario general elections
• List of Canadian political parties

External Links

• What is libertarianism?
• Libertarianism: A Philosophical Introduction, by Jan Narveson
• For a New Liberty: the Libertarian Manifesto, by Murray Rothbard
• Ontario Libertarian Party