I’ve always been uncomfortable with leftism, the kind espoused by the NDP, but also practiced by the Liberals to some extent. The State machinery just seems to be getting larger and larger. A true small ‘l’ liberal should always be suspicious of the State, not regard it as the savior. Though at present one can say that Canada is relatively free and thriving economically, I fear that the State is becoming too large and too powerful and eventually this will lead to something negative. Canada doesn’t have a tradition of strong libertarianism for historical and cultural reasons, unlike the United States. Canada is still way too close to the British philosophy of preferring order and good governance to liberty and freedom. Canada needs to move toward libertarian ideals by first developing a civil culture that cherishes maximum liberty. The fact is that majority of Canadians are very unwilling to engage in “street” politics and are generally apathetic. They may complain and grumble about high, regressive taxes, but ultimately lack a political culture of doing anything about it. On elections they vote, but after the election is over, they go back to sleep and stand by while their interests are slashed behind closed door in the corridors of power. Here I am particularly talking about our economic interests of low taxes, deregulation, less restrictive laws, more maximum personal and economic liberty. We also lack strong political leaders with strong ideological worldviews that are necessary to check the unchecked growth of the bureaucracy and State machinery. In the U.S. Senate there are many Senators who are very passionate about that, for example, Senator Rand Paul, who is relatively new and young, but also many long serving Senators that have become household names. Canada lacks such independent political leaders. Instead we have nothing but party loyalists who simply tow the party line, and given that there are practically only three federal parties in Parliament, this reflects a lack of diverse and strong ideological views being represented and faught for.
