It would have been nice if the political ideologies that are causing the U.S. to lurch further from the ideal of a progressive and fair democracy, to a narrow and intolerant democracy, did not get a foothold in Canada. But it appears, at least locally, that’s not going to be the case.
The Cowichan Valley now has its very own Libertarian candidate for the provincial elections in May. According to the Feb. 1 edition of the Cowichan Valley Citizen his name is James Anderson. In the article, Anderson gives us a few hints of what the Libertarian government would be like. Complete with a few Trumpian cliches such as lower taxes, reducing ‘red tape’, and taking “back control from the traditional political parties.”
Libertarianism is essentially nothing more than a political ideology similar to neoconservatism or neoliberalism, but further to the right. That is, if you look at politics from a left-right perspective. They both have the same philosophical grandfather, Friedrich Von Hayek.
Hayek said that the only role of government is to “protect us against force and fraud.” That means that most services that we have grown to expect from our governments would not be provided by a Libertarian government.
Libertarian philosophy means an end to the publicly operated school system. Ultimately, all publicly owned services, such as BC Hydro, would be privatized. Eventually all health are would be provided by the private sector. There would be far fewer regulations in the financial and business sectors. Forget about environmental regulations. Apparently, according to Libertarians, services and regulations like this are infringements on our freedom and liberty.
The good news, though, is that some of the few Libertarians who ran for office in the past advocated legalizing pot. I once knew someone who voted for them, just because of that. But I guess that’s not really an election issue anymore.
Peter McGuigan
North Cowichan
