Bulletin Vol.27 No. 3

Spring 2007

Doug Burn, Editor

Pub Nights – Barrie Edition

Libertarian Annual Spring BBQ

The Convenient Truth — By Larry Stevens, MSc

Chairman's Report — By George Dance

The Environment and Private Property — By Larry Stevens, MSc

What About The Poor?

Financial Statements – Jim McIntosh (Unaudited)

Pub Nights – Barrie Edition

 The Ontario Libertarian Party is pleased to announce our newest Pub night.  Pub night Barrie is now serving our more northern members.

Come out the  second Thursday of every month to enjoy good food and good company. Time 6.30 pm until freely consenting adults say otherwise ;--)

The location is Sticky Fingers Bar and Grill, located at 199 Essa Rd just east of Hwy 400, you know, where the traffic slows to a crawl on summer nights. (Phone 705-721-8793 or visit www.stickyfingers.ca)  After 8.30 pm great Blues band will be entertaining us.

All are welcome so bring your friends.  For more info or if you want to let me know your coming call Paolo Fabrizio toll free at 1-866-237-1310. 

Libertarian Annual Spring BBQ - May 27

Spring Has Rites Too:

Come on out to our annual spring BBQ and enjoy good food and great conversation at the home of my friend Carmine Principe. This year’s menu includes steak on a bun, Jumbo hot dogs and great beer.

The fun starts at 12pm and the best part of it is it's free to all our members but, of course, donations are welcomed and encouraged.

     Location:    6071 King Side Road, Caledon, Ontario, at the intersection of Airport Road and King Side Road.

     Date:          Sunday May 27 2007, 12:00 PM—??

R.S.V.P  For directions or more info call Paolo Fabrizio (866) 237-1310 or (647) 300-8555

Expect a call from Paolo on this and other party activities.

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The Convenient Truth - By Larry Stevens

Promoters of Global Warming tell us carbon dioxide in the atmosphere produced by humans is causing the temperature of the Earth to increase. This is definitely not a truth – incon­ven­ient or otherwise.

Ice core data is the only evidence available concerning the very long-term relationship between carbon dioxide and temperature. Al Gore shows graphs of this data in his movie An Inconvenient Truth. He also points out that the graphs have very similar shapes. Earlier in the movie he points out the similar shapes of the east coast of South America and the west coast of Africa, and shows how they fit together. He neglects to show how the ice core graphs fit together. Luckily, this fit is shown on the Wikipedia website (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image: Co2-temperature-plot.svg).

The ice core graphs show that the changes in carbon dioxide are the result, rather than the cause, of the changes in temperature.

Carbon dioxide is much more soluble in water than are the other major gases in the atmosphere like nitrogen and oxygen. It becomes considerably more soluble as the water cools and freezes.

This means that carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere when glaciers form and released when they thaw. Thus during an ice age, the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere decreases only to increase again as warmer conditions return.

Thus what the ice-core graph shows makes sense – the changes in temperature cause the changes in carbon dioxide, not the other way around as the promoters of Global Warming contend.

Recent research by Henrik Svensmark and his group at the Danish National Space Center points to the real cause of the recent warming trend. In a series of experiments on the formation of clouds, these scientists have shown that fluc­tu­ations in the Sun’s output cause the observed changes in the Earth’s temperature.

In the past, scientists believed the fluctuations in the Sun’s output were too small to cause the observed amount of tempera­ture change – hence, the need to look for other causes like carbon dioxide. However, these new experiments show that fluctua­tions in the Sun’s output are in fact large enough, so there is no longer a need to resort to carbon dioxide as the cause of the recent warming trend.

The discovery of the real cause of the recent increase in the Earth’s temperature is indeed a convenient truth. It means humans are not to blame for the increase. It also means there is absolutely nothing we can, much less must, do to correct the situation.

Larry Stevens has an MSc in Mathematic Physics from the University of Toronto. Larry is retired, and is reading and doing research on the environment, politics and economics.

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Chairman's Report — By George Dance

  This year’s provincial election will be the first fought under a fixed election date. That gives us more lead-time than ever before to prepare for the upcoming campaign. We have decided to take advantage, by planning the largest, most ambitious campaign in my administration to date. How much we can achieve depends entirely on how many of our members enroll in our effort.  So I am appealing to you now for your help. Over the next few months, some of our hard-working volunteers will be phoning, e-mailing, and meeting you to reiterate that appeal.

It is a healthy return to 1980's-style activism - but with three important differences. First, there will be no pipe dreams of electing anyone right now. Second, there will be no debt; we will spend what we have and what we raise, not one penny more. Third, there will be no arm-twisting: No one will be expected to help, except where and when she or he wants to help. Our party's very reason for being is to support your right to do what you choose, on your time, with your money; our electioneering will be run in that spirit.

In the same spirit, I urge you to read the following list and start considering how you can help. A successful campaign, even by our modest benchmarks, needs many volunteers filling many roles. All roles are important, and many can be fun. Sometimes the lack or gain of one key player - you - could make the difference between failure or success. Here are some of the key players we are looking for:

CANDIDATES. Not many can invest in the effort of a full-time campaign. But we are not looking for that. We plan to increase our votes by maximizing our candidate count; numbers are our goal. Even just putting your name on the ballot, and no more, will be of value. You will be a 'protest candidate' - a way for Libertarians and Ontarians to vote None of the Above against mainstream politics-as-usual.

PETITIONERS. A candidate needs only 25 signatures to be on the ballot. One or two hours’ help may be what it takes to have a Libertarian in your constituency. As long-time candidate (and 2006 Haylock Award winner) Jim McIntosh likes to remind us: "If there's no Libertarian running, who do you have to vote for?"

PAMPHLETERS. As always, we need to get our message into voters' hands. Some candidates have friends or family willing to help, if asked; others will depend on us. I would like to see one central pamphleting campaign, so that all get needed support. Whether a Flying Squad to blitz constituencies; or smaller teams for more flexibility; it all depends on what you are willing to do.

TELEPHONERS. Phoning whom, and for what? We don't know yet; our plans will depend on who steps up. This can be done from your own home, on your own schedule.

EVENT PEOPLE: There are many ways to both help and have some fun. Volunteer to staff, or organize, a press conference or Leader’s appearance. Staff a literature table. Host a coffee party for friends to meet your local candidate; or assist a Libertarian host, and invite your friends too. Cheer on Libertarians from the audience at All-Candidates Meetings. Meet and greet your candidates, and new members, at our September, October, and November Pub Nights.

CREATIVE STAFF. Join the teams preparing our pamphlets, ads, and news releases. Write a letter to the editor. Call some talk radio shows. Put a sticker on your car, or a Libertarian banner on your web site. Phone or meet ten friends, tell them about us, and give or mail them a pamphlet. E-mail twenty friends or colleagues, and send them to our website. Once again, there are many possibilities; be creative.

DONORS. If you are too busy working for any of that; at least you're making money, right? So please remember the importance of helping us financially. Remember, too, how Ontario’s generous political tax credits will leverage your contribution, so that each dollar you invest can become $4 of support for our campaign.

While we all have our own lives to lead, with more or less time to help, we all have made a commitment to our party's success. Elections give us a chance to re-examine that commitment - to get serious about it, while having fun, too. What counts is that each of us do what he or she can, and that each of us do no less.

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The Environment and Private Property — by Larry Stevens MSc

 I did an Internet search recently for the “Best” fishing areas in the world. There are two such areas in Canada. Both are in remote regions where the fishing lodge owners control the water feeding into the lakes and rivers near the top of the watershed where their lodges are located. One is in the mountains of northern British Columbia; the other is in the Canadian Shield of Labrador. Most of the other “Best” fishing areas are in similar remote areas near the top of the local watershed. There are two in the western U.S. of A., one in Central America, one in South America, one in Russia. In contrast, there are several “Best” fishing areas in easily accessible regions of Britain. The “Very Best” fishing is in England, but there are also “Best” fishing areas in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. What has protected the quality of the fishing in these areas?

The answer is private property rights protected under Common Law. These are the same rights and the same law that protected the quality of the fishing in Ontario until about fifty years ago. Before the 1950’s fishing lodge owners in Ontario took saw mills and pulp-and-paper mills that polluted their lakes and rivers to court. They got injunctions under Common Law that prevented the mills from releasing pollutants that killed the fish. That worked well until the Ontario government stepped in and “in the public interest” passed laws to allow the mills to pollute. What “public interest” was the government protecting?

Certainly not the interest of the fishing lodge owners and their clients. Nor was it the interest of thousands of people downstream who had to contend with the pollution in their drinking water. Nor was it future generations who would no longer be in a position to enjoy clean, pure water in their lakes and rivers and would have to resort to bottled water. The “public interest” being protected was that of the mill owners and employees – people who were directly involved and who could help reelect the party currently in power in Ontario.  A similar story occurred in other areas of the province with respect to untreated sewage dumped into river by towns and cities.  Again, the Ontario government passed laws to allow the pollution “in the public interest” and gained the votes of many of the townspeople.

The quality of the fishing in an area is a reflection of all the quality of the environment (the quality of life, if you will) in the lakes and rivers. In Ontario, the government has inter­vened “in the public interest” to adversely affect the environment. In Britain, on the other hand, private property rights protected under Common Law have been instrument­al in protecting the environment.

The Libertarian Party believes in personal property, and controls and restrictions on the government. It will take responsibility for the envi­ron­ment out of the hands of the government and restore it to those of the individual where it belongs, and where we can rely on the environment being protected.

Larry Stevens has an MSc in Mathematic Physics from the University of Toronto. Larry is retired, and is reading and doing research on the environment, politics and economics. 

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What About The Poor?

Because Libertarians oppose government operated health care, education and other state services, many people conclude we have no sympathy for the underprivileged.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

The hidden assumption is that the present system does help the poor.  In fact, it is the current system that creates the poor!  When our government schools turn out illiterates, they go on welfare.  When the Milk Marketing Board refuses to provide enough milk and a cheese factory closes, its employees go on welfare.  When government monetary policies cause inflation that wipes out savings intended for retirement, the elderly go on welfare.  When licensing laws and minimum wage laws destroy jobs, the jobless go on welfare.  When the tax and regulatory structure stifles economic growth and dries up risk capital that might have built new businesses, the jobless stay on welfare.  And when a poor family looks at its options, the best one the government offers is for the father to walk away from his family so the mother and children can go on welfare.

Clearly, the poor fare the worst as government power increases.  Governments have always served those with the most power and taken advantage of those with the least.  Only in a free society do the underprivileged have the opportunity to improve their lives.

Out of compassion for the enormous human suffering brought about by these government-created problems, Libertarians are working to reverse the trend towards authoritarian government – in the full knowledge that GOVERNMENT IS THE PROBLEM and only human rights and liberty can be the solution

This article originally appeared in John Hayes' election pamphlet in the early 1993.   

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Financial Statements – Jim McIntosh (Unaudited)

NOTES: 

1.        BBQ, Dinner/Speaker meetings

2.        In 2005, $533.50 spent on Phil Bender campaign plus $800 approved for Alan Mercer campaign (November 24)

3.        Mostly Contributed Goods and Services

4.        Includes $10/mo minimum VISA fee and PayPal Fees

5.        2006 Includes $466 for printing another 300 Platforms plus $408.25 spent for 1,000 brochures.  Original budget of $800 increased to $1,610 at April 23 meeting. 

6.        20 copies of The Law for distribution to new members and students (both 2005 & 2006)

7.        AGM and Dinner Meetings

8.        Post Office Box rental

9.        2006 includes 2000 each #9 & #10 envelopes.

10.        Covers Internet Services for OLP ($2,200) and OLYA ($300) and stuffing, stamping and sealing Bulletins for mailing

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