Libertarian Party candidates, 1988 Canadian federal election

The Libertarian Party of Canada fielded a number of candidates in the 1988 federal election, none of whom were elected. Information about these candidates may be found here.

Alberta

David Faren (Calgary West)

Faren listed himself as an advertising consultant. In 1997, he wrote an article sympathetic to efforts to change Canada's cannabis laws. [http://ffwdweekly.com/Issues/1997/1009/news2.html] He received 225 votes (0.41%) in 1993, finishing fifth against Progressive Conservative incumbent James Hawkes.

R John Hayes (Edmonton Southwest)

Hayes was a freelance writer at the time of the 1988 election. He received 356 votes to finish fifth of six candidates against Progressive Conservative incumbent Jim Edwards.

Manitoba

Jim Weidman (Winnipeg South)

Weidman received 168 votes, finishing fifth against Progressive Conservative candidate Dorothy Dobbie.

Ontario

John Hayes (Kingston and the Islands)

Hayes was a civil engineer in Peterborough, and was fifty years old at the time of the election. He graduated from Kingston Collegiate and Vocational Institute and Queen's University in Kingston.

He was a perennial candidate for the Libertarian Party of Canada and the Libertarian Party of Ontario. In 1984, he led a four-day libertarian convention at Trent University ("Globe and Mail", 21 May 1984). His wife Sally Hayes and son John Scott Hayes have also campaigned for the Libertarian Party ("Kingston Whig-Standard", 19 November 1988).

He allowed his name to stand in the 1988 election for Kingston when no local candidate came forward, and acknowledged that he would not be able to campaign actively in the riding. He said, "Think of it as kind of the Chilean factor, if people want to say no to the powers-that-be. I let my name stand so people will have a choice if they want one and they don't want to continue voting for any of the major socialist parties that we have in the country." ("Kingston Whig-Standard", 25 October 1988). (The "Chilean factor" comment refers to the 1988 referendum in that country that brought an end to Augusto Pinochet's military dictatorship.)

Hayes supported "total free-trade" in the 1988 election, and was skeptical that the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement negotiated by the government of Brian Mulroney did not go far enough. He predicted he would receive between 200 and 500 votes, and received 301 ("KWS", 23 November 1988).

Dusan Kubias (Scarborough Centre)

Kubias was a quality-control inspector for an engineering firm in the 1980s, and ran for the federal and provincial Libertarian parties on four occasions. He also ran for the leadership of the federal party in 1987, but lost to Dennis Corrigan by a significant margin. ["Libertarian Party members gather here to pick new leader", "Toronto Star", 16 May 1987, A8; Henry Hess, "Libertarians meet amid little hoopla", "Globe and Mail", 18 May 1987, A9; "'From fringes to mainstream,' new Libertarian leader vows", "Globe and Mail", 19 May 1987, A13. The latter article indicates that Corrigan received 76% ballot support at the party's leadership convention.] During the 1987 provincial election, he said that he would abolish taxes and dramatically reduce the size of government. ["The choices in metro", "Toronto Star", 7 September 1987, A8.] Kubias was twenty-four years old in 1987.

Anna Young (Scarborough West)

Young was a self-employed advertising consultant at the time of the election, and spoke of eliminating "our growing dependence on government and its bureaucrats" ("Toronto Star", 18 November 1988). She received 459 votes (1.10%), finishing fourth against Liberal candidate Tom Wappel.

Quebec

See also Neal Ford

Footnotes