Ontario Votes 2007: Interview with Freedom Party candidate David McGruer, Ottawa-Orleans
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
David McGruer is running for the Freedom Party of Ontario in the Ontario provincial election, in the Ottawa-Orleans riding. Wikinews' Nick Moreau interviewed him regarding his values, his experience, and his campaign.
Stay tuned for further interviews; every candidate from every party is eligible, and will be contacted. Expect interviews from Liberals, Progressive Conservatives, New Democratic Party members, Ontario Greens, as well as members from the Family Coalition, Freedom, Communist, Libertarian, and Confederation of Regions parties, as well as independents.
Interview
Why have you chosen to involve yourself in the political process? Why did you choose to run in this constituency?
- I have long had the urge to speak out when I see wrongs being done. For the last two years a monthly column in the Orleans Star has been an outlet. I have a client who moved to Ottawa from London Ont. years ago and who introduced me to the Freedom Party's principles, which meshed with my own. The party leaders asked if I would run in this election.
What prior political experience do you have? What skills and insight can you bring to office, from other non-political positions you may have held?
- No prior political experience. My insight comes from working in the real world as a teacher and then a financial advisor. I have read considerably on economics and philosophy and come to understand the deep flaws in the current popular thinking.
Which of your competitors do you expect to pose the biggest challenge to your candidacy? Why? What makes you the most desirable of all candidates running in the riding?
- I do not expect to gain more than 1% of the vote. My objective is to plant a small seed in the minds of those voters who care to think about and challenge belief systems and the status quo. Hopefully, over time, those seeds will grow until the day when it is common to talk about individual rights in political circles and the discussion turns to how to make government less instead of more intrusive.
What do you feel are the three most important issues to voters in your riding? Are these the same top three issues that are most important to you? What would you do to address these issues?
- Let me preface my response. The Freedom Party is very different from all the others because we wish to get government intrusion out of people's lives instead of extending its tendrils even deeper. As such, I am not attempting to tackle so-called "riding issues" because all these are a function of the problems created by poor thinking and poor government. For me the only issue is the promotion of a province and country which protects individual rights, and all other issues tie in and are solved by a proper understanding of rights and creation of a government suitable for the protection of rights.
- Property taxes. A lady long ago bought back her childhood home in Ottawa’s core. Her husband died and her budget tightened but her property taxes ballooned to $12,000 per year. This year she is tearfully selling. What moral code allows a government to force a homeowner to pay taxes for services not of her free choosing and threatens seizure if she does not pay? What is the mental state of people thinking it proper to force individuals to pay for things they neither use nor wish to pay for? Isn’t it time we regained the right to really own our homes and removed the taxation of property from our laws? The Freedom Party would work to eliminate the property tax and rely on consumption tax to fund basic and proper government operations.
- Municipal services. Ottawa operates a vast bureaucracy and spends millions on consultants, yet everywhere we look we find waste, inefficiency and interference in business. From social housing to roads, from buses to pollution of our waters, from crime to hockey rinks, there is no end to problems. These are inherent in the nature of government. Because government uses force to implement its plans, it opposes the flexibility and accountability that comes with freedom. To fix your car you have a nearly infinite choice of services and all fully accountable to you. When you want a city service you have no choice or accountability. Efficiency disappears and you are left prisoner to the government monopoly. In the last municipal election my councilor said the city is in over 100 businesses. The City should exit most of these businesses and return them to individual decision making and the province should facilitate this.
- Trust in government. This applies to government at all three levels. In past elections some parties and candidates have run on explicit platforms including tax reduction, yet spending at all levels continues to climb to new heights, faster than inflation. Such high spending rates are a tool to control your life more than ever before. The Freedom Party believes government should return to its original role as the protector of individual rights and be dramatically smaller than it is today. That way, politicians would have many fewer promises to make (and keep or break) and you would control your own life and be accountable to yourself. Without control over your life, politicians need not make promises to bribe you with your own money. “No man's life, liberty or property are safe while the legislature is in session.” - Judge Gideon J. Tucker
What should be the first order of business in the 39th Legislative Assembly?
- Confirm the rights and freedoms contained in the 1960 Canadian Bill of Rights and then set about dismantling all programs which infringe on the rights of individuals, meaning most of the government programs.
Are the property taxes in your riding at a fair level for the amount of services received in the municipality?
- Absolutely not. The taxation of property if a direct violation of rights and should be abolished as quickly as possible.
How can the province lead the way in stimulating job creation?
- It is not a proper role of government to stimulate anything. The best action government can take is to stand back and let free people determine their path in life.
What are your views on the mixed member proportional representation (MMP) referendum?
- I think MMP would be a bad idea as it would allow individuals who are not chosen by the electorate in any particular riding to be government leaders, and would create a much higher probability of minority governments. It could prove almost impossible for voters to keep an individual out of government.
What role, if any, does “new media” play in your campaign, and the campaign of your party? (websites, blogs, Facebook, YouTube videos, etc) Do you view it as beneficial, or a challenge?
- The Party’s YouTube postings have proven to be the most popular of all parties. Aside from Wikinews, I have also responded to a Sun Media web site inquiry and a Carleton University student inquiry. Personally, I was expecting ahead of time to run and so did not prepare my own net materials.
Of the decisions made by Ontario's 38th Legislative Assembly, which was the most beneficial to your this electoral district? To the province as a whole? Which was least beneficial, or even harmful, to your this riding? To the province as a whole?
- The single decision that stands out the most was the one to implement a massive new health tax. If McGuinty can run a campaign on the most crystal clear of promises, sign a declaration of taxpayer rights, get elected and then almost immediately violate every word and detail of his promise, yet can still hold office and be re-elected, then there is at present almost no hope and the average voter has lost all contact with rationality and morality. Politicians promises must be treated more like an inviolable contract with voters instead of a tool of deception and convenience. As a believer in the freedom of the individual, I see almost all government actions as intrusive, unnecessary and wasteful. The most honest decision a politician can make is to reduce taxes and government and give power back to individual citizens. There has been none of that for the past legislative session.
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