Bulletin Vol.26 No. 3
Spring 2006
Ontario Organ Donation Bill Seeks Government Ownership of your Body (Press Release)
Press Release Update—By Alan Mercer
Ontario By-Elections Called for March 30
Harry Browne: Took the USLP to ½ Million Votes
May 7
Celebrate Spring With a Day in the Country
·Barbecue Burgers and Hot Dogs
·Soft Drinks and Beer
·Convivial conversation
· Walk the trails. Smell the daisies
Sunday May 7, 2004 – Noon to 3 PM, Rain or Shine
Order now (416) 283-7589
$15 per person
Garret Pittenger's place, Caledon Hills (same as last year)
North on Highway 400 to Highway 7
West on Highway 7 to Highway 50
North on Highway 50 to Patterson Road
West on Patterson Road to Humber Station Road
South to 16812Humber Station Road (Number posted on white mailbox and gate)
If lost, call Garrett at (905) 880-4848 for better directions.
Call now so we can order enough food and beverages.
February 12, 2006 - Toronto, Ontario. According to recent news reports, members of CUPE are threatening to go on strike over pension reforms contained in Bill 206. Sid Ryan, president of CUPE Ontario, went so far as to declare that "We're not talking about some little one-day political strike. The schools won't open, my members won't let anyone in and it's the same for municipal buildings." (The Star Feb. 09, 2006).
“Sid Ryan is bringing the chickens home to roost,” said Jim McIntosh, Treasurer of the Ontario Libertarian Party. Over the years, Ontario voters have approved Liberal, NDP, and Conservative politicians to provide more and more services at taxpayers' expense. The socialization of Ontario has led to government quasi-monopolies in a number of areas fundamental to the lives of Ontarians. In the meantime, public workers have formed ever-larger unions to gain bargaining power against the Ontario Government and the people of Ontario. Sid Ryan is now threatening to use that power and hold the citizens as hostages until the government backs down.
The Ontario Libertarian Party proposes to fully privatize most services provided by provincial and municipal governments. Citizens would choose the company they feel would do the best job and pay for the services they want. Libertarians believe that a free market will best meet the needs of both workers and customers. According to McIntosh, "The citizens of Ontario deserve better than to be held hostage by the special interests of union leaders and politicians."
The Ontario Libertarian Party supports the right of any individual to join a union or not, and similarly, the right of any employer to deal with a union or not. A Libertarian government would make no laws regulating the relationship between private business and labour unions.
February 18, 2006 - Toronto, Ontario. Ontario M.P.P. Peter Kormos has introduced Bill 61, which seeks to amend the Trillium Gift of Life Network Act in order to allow "presumed consent" for organ donations. According to the bill's explanatory note, the "purpose of the Bill is to ensure that upon the death of a person, tissue from the person's body may be removed and made available for transplant into another person's body and that this may be done without the consent of the person from whom the tissue is removed."
Trillium Gift of Life Network is a government monopoly that controls organ donation in Ontario. This agency's restrictions follow a strict socialist ideology that weeds out non-altruistic motives by potential living donors. For instance, directed-donation by living donors is forbidden except among family and friends. As a result, the availability of organs from living donors does not meet the critical needs of more than 1800 Ontarians on transplant waiting lists.
Bill 61 seeks to solve this government-created shortage by using the force of law to harvest organs from any deceased person who has not stated an objection. Various parties in the Ontario Legislature seek to force "solutions", whether it is by declaring government ownership of peoples' dead bodies or by forcing them to sign statements.
Libertarians believe that a person owns his or her own life and body. The Ontario Libertarian Party rejects Bill 61 as a shameful violation of personal freedom and self-ownership. We reject the belief held by Peter Kormos and other legislators, that the government owns the bodies of Ontarians, or that the government has the right to decide what happens to our bodies after death. The Libertarian Party utterly rejects the concept of "presumed consent" for organ donation. Nobody has a right to take organs and tissues unless explicit consent is given.
Furthermore, the government has no right to require statements or collect information on the various reasons - religious, philosophical or otherwise - that people may have for not donating their organs.
In fact, there should be complete freedom for Ontarians to make economic and charitable arrangments concerning what happens to their organs while they are alive and after they are dead. Freedom involves economic incentives, choice and initiative, whereas government solutions involve confiscation, restrictions and threats of punishment.
The Libertarian Party calls for the rejection of Bill 61 and for the abolition of the original Act.
Since the OLP executive decided to release frequent press releases, Jean-Christophe Roux has put in a lot of effort to create a system at www.olopi.com/lp for organizing press release proposals and drafts. He and others have been busy entering proposals based on news stories and legislation and writing draft statements that reflect Libertarian Party principles. We would like to invite others to also participate and give their input. Each press release is written collaboratively. Please email me at if you would like to help.
[DISCONTINUED - Web site no longer available]Our second press release (on Bill 61, above) managed to make some impact. John Oakley interviewed me on his morning radio program on Monday February 20 in response to our press release. He had already been campaigning against the bill. This was my second appearance on his show by the way. My first had been during the federal election campaign where I explained the Libertarian Party's principles.
John mentioned how living donations are allowed between close family and friends, and I replied that the problem was exactly this, that the rules are very restrictive. People should be free to make any kind of economic or charitable arrangements, and that we need to be concerned about the principles of freedom and self-ownership. He asked if I meant people should be free to auction off their kidney to the highest bidder, and I said yes.
Then he switched topics and asked me about the Libertarian Party's position on the cartoons of Mohammad, and I explained that even though I feel the cartoons are offensive, that we absolutely support the right of newspapers to publish anything like that, and we support freedom of expression and freedom of the press.
The idea of self-ownership vs. government ownership took hold very effectively. The interview was a success because it placed the libertarian free market point of view regarding organ donation on the table. John Oakley was still talking about our point of view later in the program with callers, and quoted from our press release, and he seemed to understand it very well. He elaborated on it and brought up the idea of passing on organs by inheritance. He mentioned the Libertarian Party repeatedly, and emphasized how we were the party that represented individual rights. He mentioned us again the next day when he had an economist on from the University of Buffalo who also advocated a market in organs.
A friend of mine heard the interview and thought it was very interesting. As an Orthodox Jew, he's against removing organs from the body, and finds the idea of selling organs very offensive. And I think many in the public still find this idea very new and controversial. I explained to him that our position has to do with putting limits on the role of government, that the point of our position is to stop government from automatically harvesting organs at death, and to allow people to do what they want with their lives. Libertarians want people to be able to make their own choices, and to be left alone regarding their religious beliefs concerning organ donation. It's not that we want people to be sucked in to doing things they find offensive. We just want to allow people to do what they have a right to do and to oppose the idea that the government should decide what happens to their organs.
(Unaudited) Jim McIntosh, Treasurer
Category Description 2004 2005 Difference Notes
INCOME
General Collections 100.00 0.00 -100.00 (1)
Contributions: Cash 10,762.00 8,513.00 -2,249.00
Contr’ns: Goods & Services 6,459.12 3,278.40 -3,180.72 (2)
Election Contributions 0.00 0.00
Interest Income 3.60 4.49 0.89
Memberships (out of prov) 0.00 20.00 20.00
TOTAL INCOME 17,324.72 11,815.89 -5,508.83 2006
EXPENSES Budget
Accounting & Audit 2,656.00 2,656.00 0.00 (2) 0
Bank Charges 257.77 210.5 47.27 (3) 250
Brochures, Newsletter 805.52 752.7 52.82 (4) 800
Election Campaign Expenses 0.00 1,333.50 -1,333.50 (5) 600
Conv'ns, mtgs, attended 260.00 0 260.00 (6) 0
Fund Raising Expenses 0.00 87.32 -87.32 (7) 100
Meetings Hosted 1,898.29 1,991.29 -93.00 (8) 3,000
Office & Equipment Rental 141.24 141.24 0.00 (9) 150
Office Supplies 964.76 719.33 245.43 (10) 1,000
Postage & Courier 863.09 923.13 -60.04 900
Professional Fees 2,160.99 2,078.39 82.60 (11) 2,500
Telephone 880.65 891.05 -10.40 900
Travel Expenses 871.50 723.59 147.91 (2) 0
TOTAL EXPENSES 11,759.81 12,508.04 -748.23 10,200
INCOME LESS EXPENSES 5,564.91 -692.15 -6,257.06
As Of Year End
Bank Account 22,035.97 19,578.86 2,457.11
Prepaid Expenses 161.04 0.00 161.04
Accounts Payable -4,582.00 -2,656.00 -1,926.00
NET ASSETS 17,615.01 16,922.86 -692.15
Notes
(1) BBQ, Dinner/Speaker meetings
(2) Contributed Goods and Services (not included in budget)
(3) Includes $10/mo minimum VISA fee and PayPal Fees
(4) 2004 Includes $380 for printing another 200 Platforms
(5) In 2005, $533.50 spent on Phil Bender campaign (March 17, no motion) plus $800 approved for Alan Mercer campaign (November 24) Budget includes $600 for next by-election (likely Whitby-Oshawa, to replace Flaherty).
(6) Delegates to Liberty Summer Seminar in 2004
(7) 20 copies of The Law for distribution to new members and students. More needed in 2006.
(8) 2006 Budget includes $1,200 for AGM, $1,600 for Dinner meetings and $400 for Executive Meetings
$432 of the $2,000 approved for Dinner Meetings was spent in 2005
(9) Post Office Box rental
(10) 2004 includes 3 sets Business Cards and 2,000 each Bulletin shells, #9 & #10 envelopes
(11) Covers Internet Services for OLP ($2,200) and OLYA ($300)
Libertarians have the opportunity to compete in three by-elections between now and the end of March. On March 1, John Hollins, Ontario’s Chief Election Officer issued writs for three provincial by-elections to be held on Thursday, March 30. All three seats became vacant in November as MPPs representing the ridings chose to run as candidates in the January 23 federal election.
Jim Flaherty, formerly the PC MPP for Whitby-Ajax, defeated Liberal incumbent Judi Longfield (as well as Libertarian Party candidate Marty Gobin) to win the federal riding of Whitby-Oshawa for the Conservative Party. Flaherty’s wife Christine Elliott, a Whitby lawyer, won the nomination for the PC party to run against the Liberal’s candidate Judi Longfield (yeah, the same Longfield that Christine’s husband defeated federally). As Flaherty took the riding provincially by less than 5,000 votes in 2003, Longfield may have a shot at taking it this time. The NDP took less than 10% of the vote in 2003. Marty Gobin will be our Libertarian candidate in this riding.
Marilyn Churley, formerly NDP MPP for Toronto-Danforth, gave up her seat to run unsuccessfully against Liberal MP Maria Mina in the neighbouring riding of Beaches-East York. Churley took Toronto-Danforth in the provincial general election of October 2003 with a 6,000-vote plurality over the Liberal candidate Jim Davidson. The Tories ran a distant third with 17% of the popular vote. This time out, NDP candidate Peter Tabuns, a former city councilor and one-time deputy mayor, is the odds on favourite to win over Ben Chin, the Liberal candidate, former TV anchor and former senior media advisor to Premier Dalton McGuinty.
John Baird, formerly the PC MPP for Nepean-Carleton, defeated Liberal candidate Lee Farnworth in the riding of Ottawa West-Nepean. Lisa Macleod, a federal Conservative Party aide, is favoured to take the provincial seat for the Tories as Baird won it in 2003 with a 10,000 vote plurality over the Liberal candidate Rod Vanier. At press time, Vanier as well as Ottawa Police Chief Brian Ford were competing for the Liberal Party nomination in the riding. The NDP took less than 7% of the vote in 2003.
Anyone interested in helping to promote the Libertarian cause in these by-elections should contact Jim McIntosh at 416-283-7589 or .
Harry Browne, US Libertarian Party presidential candidate and best selling author of investment books, died on Wednesday March 1, 2006 at his home in Franklin, Tennessee from Lou Gehrig’s Disease at age 72.
Browne came to widespread public attention in 1970 with his first published book “How you can profit from the coming devaluation”. Four years later he wrote “How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World: A Handbook for Personal Liberty” which became a widely regarded libertarian classic. A year later, his book “You can profit from a monetary crisis” topped the New York Times Best Seller List.
Browne was born in New York City and grew up in Los Angeles. In 1995 after years of dismissing political action he ran for and won the presidential nomination of the Libertarian Party. In the election of 1996 he won a record 466,000 (0.5%) votes. Four years later he ran again for the Party but, without Ross Perot’s Reform Party as active as four years earlier, the election devolved into a two-party race with George Bush Jr. beating Al Gore and leaving Browne with just 384,000 (0.37%) votes.
The National Review, Washington Times, New York Times, Reason, Fox News and The (UK) Guardian all noted his passing.
In all, Browne authored 14 books, which sold 2 million copies. He is survived by his wife Pamela and his daughter Autumn who is now living in Orange Country.
Browne was a co-founder of the Downsize DC Foundation and DownsizeDC.org. He was a strong advocate of that organization’s “Read The Bills Act,” which would require Congress to read every word of every bill before voting on it.