Our Candidates

August 1984

Our Candidate in Vancouver Quadra:
Marco den Ouden

Marco, 35, has lived in the Greater Vancouver area since 1972, including six years in North Vancouver, two years in Vancouver, three years in Coquitlam, and the last year in Pitt Meadows, where he and his wife purchased a home. He was born in Holland, emigrated to Canada at the age of two, and was raised and educated in Montreal, Quebec. He married Janice Baker in 1981, and they are expecting their first child in January 1985.

Having graduated from High School of Montreal in 1967, he attended McGill University for four years studying Commerce. He moved to Vancouver In February 1972 and continued with part-time studies of Philosophy, History and French at Simon Fraser University. He has also taken courses in Television Operations, Film and in News Writing at the BC Institute of Technology.

Marco served two years in fast food management with A&W Food Services from 1972 to 1974. He then joined BCTV where he has worked as shipper-receiver, as film editor, and as videotape operator. Presently he is working at BCTV as a news editor, a position he held since 1979 (for the duration of the current election campaign he will not be editing political news stories).

Marco was managing editor of an eight-page newsletter. The Libertarian, published by the Libertarian Foundation from September 1978 to February 1980. He did some freelance writing for The HALT Report, published by Human Action to Limit Taxes. In September 1980 Marco co-founded the Greater Vancouver Libertarian Association. He has been a member of Toastmasters International off and on for a number of years, having served as Sergeant-at-Arms and as Educational Vice President. In his spare time Marco enjoys skiing, swimming, reading and gardening.

He lives at 19519-115A Avenue, Pitt Meadows, BC, V0M 1P0, Ph# 465-4683.

Our Candidate for Vancouver Center:
Paul Geddes

Paul, 29, and his wife Juliette have lived in Vancouver's West End since 1981. Paul teaches economics at Columbia College, a private Vancouver junior college, and has lectured in comparative economics at Simon Fraser University.

Paul became interested in libertarianism while working as an economist with the Department of External Affairs in Ottawa. Realizing he needed more academic training, he left to enter the Ph.D. program in Economics at UBC. There he met other libertarians and found out about HALT. He helped HALT prepare a study on the benefits of private garbage collection.

At present Paul is President of Tenants Against Rent Control, a member of the National Citizens' Coalition and shareholder #38 of Transpo 177, the private alternative transit company in Vancouver. Paul also serves on the executive of the Vancouver Center Riding Association for the BC Social Credit Party.

Our Candidate for Vancouver/Burnaby:
John Clarke

John's biography will be published in our next issue.

Our Vancouver East Candidate:
Sandy MacDonald

Sandy MacDonald Writes:

Those of you who have attended any of the last three Libertarian supper meetings may know me by sight. I am not the type to sit quietly during a discussion of ideas. I was responsible for the "are you an activist or did you just come for the dinner" survey which appeared on your tables at the Libertarian Party vs. Voluntaryist debate at the Chateau Granville. At the time I considered a Libertarian movement much more crucial than a party. I still do, but having just moved to downtown Vancouver from very rural southeast Langley for the more abundant job prospects, and being considered a natural for the job due to the aforementioned problem with my mouth, and given that and election was called; well -- you can do whatever you can.

I am running in Vancouver East which is either a stronghold of the true-believer socialists or a stronghold of the disaffected. I aim to find out which. I am not running a mere paper candidacy. These people have been raised on Dave Barrett, and while I am not of his oratorical calibre, I am not slouch either (and what I am going to say makes a lot more sense).

If there are any of you Supper Clubbers out there in Vancouver East, please activate yourselves. Your visible support (lawn signs), your communication (appraising me of speaking opportunities, etc.) and the wherewithal to pay for those lawn signs will be much appreciated; and, I must say with mixed feelings, will also be tax-deductible.

Our Candidate for North Vancouver/Capilano:
Bill Tomlinson

Bill was born in England in 1934. After his education he served two years in the Royal Air Force. He married in 1954, and soon after he and his wife started up their own successful small building business. Bill, his wife and two daughters came to North Vancouver in 1967, settled down quickly in this country they love so much; and made their home here ever since. Like all newcomers, Bill tried several jobs at first, but finally realized that he preferred working for himself. He has owned and operated Abbott Plumbing and Electric Ltd. since 1972. This is a small business, but it keeps him and his wife very busy. Bill is well known on the North Shore, and many of his new customers are referrals from other satisfied customers.

Bill's late involvement in politics has been brought about by his concern for the downward slide of the Canadian economy and the low standard of ethics in public life. If we are to leave any heritage for our children beyond the massive state debt and a worthless dollar, we must now reduce government spending. The only people committed to doing this are Libertarians.

Our Fraser Valley West Candidate:
Martin Macdonald

Martin Macdonald is 29 years old and lives in the Bridgeview area of Surrey. He is married and has two children. Martin had the good sense to leave Ottawa, his birthplace, when he was one year old, and moved to the Lower Mainland. He is a graduate of Vancouver College High School and BCIT where he studied Mechanical Engineering. He has worked as a draftsman, and is currently taking a full-time course in Industrial Electricity and Electronics at the Vancouver Vocational Institute.

Martin joined the Libertarian Party this year, but he has advocated the Libertarian philosophy for 5 years. He worked with HALT (Human Action to Limit Taxes) in that organization's efforts to reduce taxes and to privatize some government services. Later he worked with the Western Canada Concept but left when most of the members became concerned more with personalities than with principles.

"The Libertarians' respect for justice and individual liberty appeals to me," he says. "The immense economic and cultural benefits are an added bonus." Martin endorses the Libertarian Party platform. Particularly, he would like to see an end to the customs checks at the border crossings. "Waiting two hours for the privilege of being let back into your own country is degrading. Coerced, virtually at gunpoint, to pay duty on goods bought in the US is nothing short of robbery. Another crime is the cost of customs bureaucracy."

"Ottawa does not want to open the border because then people will start to wonder why they need governments at all. That is a question the politicians and bureaucrats do not want to see asked."

Our Candidate for Fraser Valley East:
J. Wayne Marsden

Wayne lived his entire thirty-nine years in BC, and in Fraser Valley East for the last four years. He is married to former Susan Neufeld of Chilliwack for fifteen years, and has five children aged four to thirteen.

Wayne attended UBC and SFU, graduating from the latter in 1969 with a B.A. with honours in Philosophy.

He worked his way through university as a mill-worker and surveyor. Since graduation he has been employed as a geophysics technician, carpenter, and headrig sawyer. The last ten years he worked in various management positions in the construction industry. He is at present a construction superintendent.

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