The gods of liberty are conferring in the heavens as we speak. If you listen carefully, you can hear them – voices of reason wafting over a humanity for whom reason has all but been drowned out by the cries of millions of chattering class believers in their own claims for entitlement  (“Entites” ) at the expense of  our nation’s prosperity producers (“Prospertites”).

Fortunately, we Libertarians, because we are also fans of reason, can hear the gods' whispers and can derive inspiration from them.  With a new OLP leadership team in place, let's all tap into the wisdom of the gods to launch a new Libertarian Storm – a storm of policy ideas that will rise above the din of Entite’s entreaties and convert large masses of them to Prospertite supporters.

This morning, over coffee, the gods inspired a small but noticeable twister in my personal ‘reason center’ - it concerned  government regulations. The following is my first ‘Twist & Shout’ for a new policy idea that has been inspired by this mini 'cerebral storm'. I am hoping that you will join me in debating and discussing the merits and practically of such a policy for incorporation into the OLP Official Policy Platform.

Policy Category:  Government Regulations

Policy Proposal:  The OLP, when it forms a government in Ontario, will pass a law requiring that 5 existing regulations be retired for every 1 new regulation created. Furthermore, the funding needed to complete this process could not be sourced from the public purse but must be funded by the private interest group(s) or individual(s) who stand to gain from the new policy.

Policy Rationale:  Currently there exists ~500,000 regulations on the books within the Ontario Provincial Government. Each regulation requires active and adminsitrative enforcement by the government thereby resulting in an expanding public sector work force that grows in proportion to this growing base of regulations.

      You cannot shrink government until you shrink its domains of responsibilities and authority!  Therefore, if the OLP campaigns to eliminate 5 regulations that no longer serve the public interest in favour of 1 new regulation that addresses a new and valid area of public concern, then the responsibilities of public bureaucracies will shrink leading to a reduction in  the need of bureaucrats to enforce them.

Political Advantage:  Regulation reductions, especially when addressed as a ‘streamlining’ of government operations, is a less politically volatile message that directly addressing the need to cut jobs in the Ontario Public Service.  The OLP wants to win the war against big government over the long run, and can take a tactical approach to doing so by eliminating the justification for big government.

     I believe that this proposal, if implemented into law, would see a steady yet politically imperceptible shrinkage of regulations over time. At some future point, it will become more and more difficult to find 5 regulations that have less merit than the new one that is proposed. A ”Regulation Equilibrium” will be reached  whereby the ‘regulations in force ‘ will have continued value to our citizens and those that have lost their relevance will be culled.

     Maybe when the  ”Regulation Equilibrium” has been reach, the policy can change to a 3 for 1 exchange, then 2 for 1 and finally 1 for1 so that every proposal for a  new regulation creation can include a meaningful debate by interested parties (ie stakeholders) over the relative advantages and disadvantages of the proposed regulation vs the regulations under consideration for retirement.

New Regulation Funding:  If a group of citizens wishes to propose a new regulations for which the cost of enforcement will be shouldered by all taxpayers, in only stands to reason that the cost of new regulation creation should be borne my the initiating interest group. Furthermore, the onus should be on placed on their ability to convince the rest of us of the merits of the new regulation vs the costs and trade-offs of retiring 5 other regs.

It is my hope that this Twist & Shout leads to a 'category 5 hurricane' of new Libertarian policy ideas. Keep the storm building ya’ll !