Why should you vote for me? Because I get that question a lot, I am posting my answer.
I might turn the question around a bit, and enquire, why should I bother running?
After all, voters love their Institutional Parties, and most people would say what I am attempting is hopeless. "Wasting their vote", they might say. I consider that ironic.
I might point out that over 40% of the Electorate are so disenchanted by the "System", that they cannot be bothered voting. One might wonder why that is, and how we came to this.
So here I am, a lawyer with specific training in the philosophy of rights, a classical liberal standing for certain ancient human values based on personal liberty, self-reliance, responsibility for one's actions, honour, .... those kind of funny old ideas. I happen to believe we don't need much government in our lives. (Remarkably, the idea that we do need lots and lots of government to control us came along after World War 2, even though I thought the soldiers were sent to fight against that very thing.)
I have watched elections in Canada for decades, and have seen the same-old routine: in between elections, people whine and complain; then the elections come, and everyone forgets the problems as they scramble for hand-outs and bribes in exchange for a vote, to keep the engine going. And up goes the national debt to pay for the bribes, and no one talks about the real big problems, because the Institutional Parties control the discussion.
It's a bit like voting for Pepsi or Coke. Not much difference between them really, but the market is locked down - people go to one or the other, over and over. People know that they aren't really good for you, but love the taste, so they keep buying into it.
Now - if I came along and offered you water, instead, would you reply "not interested, too plain" ?
I refuse to attempt to bribe you, unless saying that I intend to fight the new Canadian culture of bribery is itself a bribe.
It is my intention to put a new (or rather, very old) voice into Parliament. At the moment, there are at best 4 voices being heard; all the members simply mouth what their Party Leaders tell them to, right? Do you suppose there is a Conservative voice that is not really Mr. Harper's? or a Liberal's that is not Mr. Ignatieff's?
Do you not find it remarkable that Canada went to war against Libya and no Member spoke out against it? Truly, do you believe all Canadians are in favour of waging an undefined conflict, with no defined terms of victory? Out of more than 300 Members?
I am a Capitalist; I would have things to say which have not been heard in Parliament for a long while. I consider myself filling an intellectual vacuum.
I happen to be a good public speaker, a lawyer. Unlike many Members of Parliament with training in economics, my training is in Rights. I happen to believe that our institutions should be governed by a principle of Rights, not economics.
I have children, and could not look forward to the day when I told my kids that even though I could have tried to save them from the problems coming at their generation, I could not be bothered. I am not like the 40% of the Electorate who have given up - I know better, and can do better; it's the way I am built, why I have studied the things I have studied. And now, I can tell them I tried. It's now up to Canadian voters to either help or not.
Whether you vote for me or not is naturally up to you. If you are looking for goodies, disregard me - I am not for you. But if you were hoping that one day something or someone might come along that might try to change things, my question for you is, would you support it if you saw it?
If you are looking to restore a nation built on the fundamental strengths of human energy and creativity, sweat and ingenuity, then support me. Unlike "one-theme" campaigns, [Bloc, Green] I am offering an entire philosophy, and the ideas are all rationally connected and consistent, applicable throughout the world.
And if, on the chance that these ideas appeal to you, please help by passing this along. That way you can help save the kids too.