The Race is On

August 1984

A guest appearance on Pat Burns' CJOR Hotline Show by party leader Victor Levis, and Vancouver Quadra candidate Marco den Ouden, launched campaign '84 for Vancouver Libertarians July 24.

The lively three and a half hour session covered all areas of Libertarian philosophy, and produced enthusiastic response from listeners.

Our controversial stance on immigration (we are for open borders) produced some negative comments, but our economic proposals (abolish our national debt by selling off crown corporations, deregulate the economy, free trade) were very popular.

The show was used effectively to promote the July 25 public meeting. Burns, himself, proved a genial host and was largely sympathetic to libertarian ideals.

On July 25th, a 10:00 am press conference at the Four Seasons Hotel was held to present our candidates and platform to the media. The press conference was well attended and garnered credible publicity.

GVLA ad hoc President, Marco den Ouden gave a short background history on the party's goal for this campaign. He pointed out that this was the party's third election campaign but first major national effort in an election. We hope to field over 100 candidates coast-to-coast and two campaigns will be well financed, the campaigns in Peterborough, Ontario, and in the Yukon.

In Peterborough, longtime libertarian activist, John Hayes is the candidate. He is a prominent Peterborough businessman, active in the United Way and community activities. His wife, Sally Hayes has been a libertarian alderwoman on Peterborough city council for the last two years. The party will spend $40-50,000 on John's campaign.

In the Yukon our candidate is Keith Dye, a veteran of 24 election campaigns. In the last federal election he was campaign manager for Tory Erik Nielsen, the current MP. Now he's challenging his former boss for his job. Dye also worked on Peter Lougheed's campaigns in Alberta in the 70's. Dye is a well-known and credible candidate for the Libertarian Party in the Yukon.

Then den Ouden introduced LPC Leader, Victor Levis. Victor discussed the Libertarian Party platform. He told the press that an elected Libertarian would serve as a watchdog for the public's wallets and for liberty. The three major parties had colluded to throttle Canadians' freedom of speech and press with its notorious Bill C-169, he charged. Mulroney subsequently conceded that the Conservatives had been "asleep at the switch." "Canada can't afford politicians who are 'asleep at the switch,'" said Levis.

The media were swift in bringing the news to the public. At noon, four radio stations, CBC, CKNW, CKWX and CKLG carried reports. BCTV's Noon Newshour carried a clip of Victor presenting the Party's message of freedom. CKVU-TV's First News at 5:30 pm carried a story on us as did KVOS-TV's 10:30 Report.

At 3:45 pm Victor Levis was again a guest at CJOR, this time on the Bill Williams Show (Williams was subbing for regular host Bob Spence).

At 7:30 pm that evening, 45 people turned out for a public meeting to hear Victor. Several had come as a result of publicity on Burns' show the previous evening.

Vancouver Centre candidate, Paul Geddes introduced Victor, who gave a speech on the significance of an election in 1984, the year heralded by George Orwell as synonymous with totalitarianism. Paul then discussed the Party's platform and questions from the audience were fielded.

North Vancouver-Capilano candidate, Bill Tomlinson then urged attendees to help support the Vancouver area candidates with funds. Over $400 was raised for the election and other help was offered as well.

Thursday morning, Victor left for the Yukon. He returned to BC for visits to Prince George and Victoria before returning to Montreal, where Victor is running for Pierre Trudeau's former seat of Mont Royal.

Seventy-two candidates will be running under the Libertarian banner in the current federal election: twelve in BC and seven in Vancouver alone. These fine candidates need your help, both financially, and with your time and effort. If you can help, please call Paul at 689-5260.

Special thanks should be extended to our campaign committee; specifically Mary Anne Nylen, Harry Pokrandt, and Dan Ladd who have worked hard to get our candidates nominated. If you wish to help with committee work, please call Mary Anne at 984-9880.