Can the BCLP Obtain Relevance?

by James Smith
April 1999

As the BCLP comes up for re-registration on December 31, 1999 we would be well advised to sit down and formulate a well thought-out political agenda. I believe that the BCLP can be a truly unique and powerful political force in British Columbia if a set of rational priorities are established which take into account the currently limited knowledge, skills and interest of the members of the BC libertarian movement. A most humbling task indeed. The Canadian libertarian movement's unwillingness to acknowledge this ever-present lack of resources has caused too many of our parties and organizations to attempt to accomplish far too much with far too little, and in the end accomplishing almost nothing except wasted time, money and lives. This has been done over and over. As the libertarian activist Michael Cloud has said, "Keep on doing what you have been doing and you will keep on getting what you have been getting." We can remedy this situation however.

I believe that the BCLP must concentrate its political efforts in election 2000 on pursuing a limited number of radical objectives. In year 2004 the agenda could be broadened to include a greater number of objectives and so on election after election. This would allow the party to utilize its limited resources to formulate a thoroughly researched and well presented set of policies. Of course the number of policies would increase year after year as the party gains a larger personnel interested in performing the vital research required to formulate policy. The point is that it is far more useful to present a small number of well researched and rational free-market solutions to the voting public, as opposed to a myriad of poorly substantiated rants and complaints against the State. There simply isn't enough time in the election to pursue every issue. Thus the BCLP should only demand the removal of a particular government intervention when it has invested the time and intellectual effort in formulating an intelligent and well thought-out free market alternative. Note that the BCLP's program should be open-ended, that is, there should very little limit on the implementation of capitalist principles, but again, they should only be presented when we have formulated an intelligent capitalist alternative. Thus, the strategy is not moderate or in any way a "selling out" of capitalist principles for cheap political gain, but rather, a realistic acknowledgement of our current lack of resources. I propose the following list of policy priorities for the BCLP in 2000. First and foremost demand the explicit acknowledgement of the individual's property rights, then:

Completely remove ourselves form the Canada Pension Plan.
Abolish Welfare.
Allow completely open immigration.
Allow a complete free market in health care.
Institute a moderate schedule of tariff and excise taxes to pay for any then remaining government programs and pay off government debts.
Allow complete free trade.
Allow a complete free market in drugs, prostitution and alcohol.
Repeal the minimum wage law.
Allow a complete free market in the forestry industry.
Allow a complete free market in the mining industry.
Allow a complete free market in the vehicle insurance industry.
Allow a free market in gambling.
Allow a free market in education.

This is an excellent list of objectives with which to restart the libertarian movement in election 2000, and in election 2004 the list could be somewhat lengthened and so on in each subsequent election. With respect to other issues not on the current list of objectives the party will simple have to issue statements saying that we will analyse all problems pertaining to government services in light of our sincere concerns for fiscal restraint and efficient management.

The real benefit to approaching politics in this manner is that it allows us to direct our resources toward realistic achievable goals over the short as well as the long term. Indeed as difficult as it is for most to accept it will most likely be 60 to 100 years before libertarians actually come to power in British Columbia, however we must set the proper organization, intellectual and policy foundation now, or we and those capitalist that come after us will never achieve anything.