Libertarian Party of Canada#Leaders

The party was founded on 7 July 1973 by Bruce Evoy (who became its first chairman) and seven others.{{cite web |title=Profile |url=https://lop.parl.ca/sites/ParlInfo/default/en_CA/Parties/Profile?partyId=4844 |access-date=2022-10-05 |website=Parlinfo |publisher=Library of Parliament}} Evoy ran unsuccessfully for election to Parliament in the 1974 federal election in the Toronto riding of Rosedale.{{cite web |last=Grigsby |first=Wayne |date=February 3, 1980 |title=For Libertarians, less is more |url=https://www.cbc.ca/archives/entry/for-libertarians-less-is-more |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210416124232/https://www.cbc.ca/archives/entry/for-libertarians-less-is-more |archive-date=2021-04-16 |access-date=November 17, 2020 |website=CBC Digital Archives |publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation |language=en}}{{cite web |title=Libertarian Party of Canada |url=https://studentvote.ca/canada/party-profiles/libertarian-party-of-canada/ |publisher=Student Vote Canada |access-date=November 17, 2020 |language=en}} The party achieved registered status in the 1979 federal election by running more than fifty candidates.{{Cite news |last=Sikora |first=Adam |date=1988-11-16 |title=Libertarians support free trade, oppose 'big government' |pages=19 |work=Whitby Free Press |url=https://images.ourontario.ca/Partners/Whitby/002451802p19.pdf |url-status=live |access-date=2022-10-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221005172419/http://images.ourontario.ca/Partners/Whitby/002451802p19.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-05 |via=OurOntario.ca}}

The party described itself as Canada's "fourth party" in the 1980s;{{citation needed|date=June 2011}} however, it has since been displaced by new parties such as the Bloc Québécois and the Green Party of Canada. The party declined to join the Reform Party of Canada when it was formed in 1987.{{citation needed|date=June 2011}} Many Libertarians were also attracted to provincial Progressive Conservative parties that moved to the right during the 1990s in Ontario under Mike Harris and in Alberta under Ralph Klein. The decline in the party's membership and resources resulted in Elections Canada removing their status as a registered party immediately before the 1997 federal election when the party failed to run the minimum fifty candidates needed to maintain its registration.{{citation needed|date=June 2011}}

Jean-Serge Brisson led the party from 22 May 2000 until 18 May 2008, when he was succeeded by Dennis Young. Young defeated outgoing party president Alan Mercer for the leadership. Savannah Linklater was elected deputy leader.{{cite web|url=http://westernstandard.blogs.com/shotgun/2008/05/dennis-young-ne.html|title=Western Standard|publisher=Westernstandard.blogs.com|date=20 May 2008|access-date=13 August 2010}} In May 2011, Katrina Chowne was elected leader of the Libertarian Party. In May 2014, Tim Moen was elected leader of the Libertarian Party.{{citation needed|date=September 2021}}

In the 2015 federal election, the party fielded 72 candidates and solidified their position as the sixth federal party in Canada, with growth over 500% from the 2011 federal election.{{citation needed|date=September 2021}}

The next Federal Libertarian Party of Canada Convention took place in Ottawa from 5 July through 7 July 2018, concluding on the 45th anniversary of the party.{{cite web|url=http://www.libertarian.ca/calendar | title=Libertarian Party of Canada Convention|website=Libertarian.ca|access-date=3 October 2017}}

In September 2018, Moen, who had previously offered the leadership of the Libertarian Party to Maxime Bernier, stated that he was open to the idea of a merger with Bernier's People's Party of Canada.{{Cite news|title=Libertarian Party considering a merger with Bernier's People's Party|work=CBC|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/bernier-libertarian-party-merger-1.4827241|quote=Libertarian leader Tim Moen had offered to step aside for Bernier following the results of the 2017 Conservative leadership race and adopted Bernier's platform.}} When asked by Global News, Bernier indicated he had no interest in a merger.{{Cite news|title='I am not a communist': Maxime Bernier doubles down on People's Party name amid criticism|work=Global News|url=https://globalnews.ca/news/4464574/maxime-bernier-peoples-party-of-canada-name/|access-date=September 19, 2018}}

The party also nominated a number of candidates to run in by-elections:

• 1980 by-election: 1
• 1981 by-election: 1
• 1982 by-election: 1
• 1990 by-election: 2
• 1995 by-election: 1
• 2008 by-election: 1
• 2010 by-election: 1
• 2012 by-election: 3
• 2013 by-election: 3
• 2014 by-election: 2
• 2016 by-election: 1
• 2017 by-election: 4

; Sources

• Libertarian Party of Canada News (July/August 1974). 4. 1979-2006. [https://www.parl.ca/ "Parliament of Canada History of the Federal Electoral Ridings since 1867"].

File:George Dance 1988.jpg

File:Jean-Serge Brisson.jpg

{{Portal|Canada|History|Liberalism|Politics}}

• Libertarian Party of Canada candidates in the 1988 Canadian federal election
• Libertarian Party of Canada candidates in the 1993 Canadian federal election
• Libertarian Party of Canada candidates in the 2006 Canadian federal election
• Libertarian Party of Canada candidates in the 2008 Canadian federal election
• Libertarian Party of Canada candidates in the 2011 Canadian federal election
• Libertarian Party of Canada candidates in the 2015 Canadian federal election

{{reflist|30em}}

• {{official website|libertarian.ca}} (in English).
• [https://wayback.archive-it.org/227/*/http://www.libertarian.ca/ Libertarian Party of Canada – Canadian Political Parties and Political Interest Groups]. Web archive created by the University of Toronto Libraries.

{{Canadian federal political parties}}

{{Libertarian parties in Canada}}

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