With the provincial election just under a month away and Canadians set to head to the polls on June 2, Zachary Tisdale is hopeful to offer those in the area a candidate they feel more aligned with politically.
Representing the Ontario Libertarian Party, Tisdale believes the key to prosperity in Ontario is through reducing the size and cost of the provincial government.
Formed in 1975, the party is running on a platform that focus on the freedom of choice behind party leader Mark Snow.
“It promotes the ideas and the political philosophy of libertarianism, which upholds freedom and liberty as core values that are ideals we should strive for,” said Tisdale. “That means having individual rights and autonomy over the state, protecting individual rights, standing up for freedoms like speech, freedom of association, and bodily autonomy.”
It wasn’t always Tisdale’s plan to run in a provincial election, but after seeing what happened throughout the pandemic, he felt it was his obligation to get involved.
“I never wanted to be a politician necessarily,” he said. “I’ve always been interested in politics, but throughout the pandemic I saw time and time again, instance after instance of government overreach. They stepped over the line and violated people’s civil liberties, violated property rights, violated bodily autonomy and medical rights. I grew concerned over the increase in censorship through the mainstream media and government by vilifying and silencing any dissenting voices.”
Wanting to “increase the freedom” of the people of York-Simcoe, Tisdale’s platform focuses on both economic and social freedom.
“To me the only way to achieve that is with less government,” he said. “That means deregulation, striking down unnecessary laws and laws that restrict mobility rights and zoning laws that prevent development. We have a housing supply crisis in the region with housing becoming more and more unaffordable for young people and new arrivals to Canada. The price of housing has gone way up, and I believe it’s fundamentally a lack of supply to meet the demand. A key part of my platform is encouraging development of new housing and reducing red tape to build the infrastructure needed to support the high population growth we’re expected in the region.”
With economic recovery at the forefront as Ontario works to rebound from the impact of the pandemic, Tisdale says it starts with the issue of inflation.
“It’s about empowering people with more economic power and more purchasing power with their paycheques so that they’re free to take their money and spend it in areas that they see fit,” he explained. “They can support the businesses they want to support and have more purchasing power to purchase the products and services that they need and enjoy. We have an inflationary crisis going on across the country, and particularly in Ontario. We’re looking at generational level highs with inflation, especially the prices of the day-to-day items that we need—food and gas."
To help balance the issue of inflation, Tisdale suggests cutting taxes would do wonders for the wallets of Ontarians.
“We can reduce some of the taxes that the government is imposing,” he says. “I believe cutting taxes like the provincial sales tax portion of the HST from eight per cent down to five (bring the HST down to 10 per cent), would allow us to give more money back to people and easy the burden. I’d also look at cutting additional punitive taxes that are embedded in various products. I’d fight back against the carbon tax—I see it as a program that will have little impact on reducing climate change—I believe fighting back on some of the consumption taxes on beer and wine, and fighting back on the gas and fuel taxes permanently to give more purchasing power back to the people.”
Having spent part of his childhood in Bradford, Tisdale wanted to come back to represent the like-minded people of York-Simcoe.
“I grew up in Bradford, it was my hometown and some of my oldest memories are of growing up there going to school and playing hockey,” he said. “That’s why I felt compelled to run in the area, to stand up for the rights of the residents in the region. I wanted to come back and make a statement to say that there are other ways to approach some of the problems we face.”
With the PCs, Liberals, and NDPs being the traditional parties in Ontario, Tisdale wanted to offer a different option and perspective on addressing issues in the province.
“The big establishment parties all kind of have the same idea and approaches to problems,” he said. “One of the reasons I wanted to represent the Libertarian Party was to say that there is a different way we can be looking at our issues and different types of solutions that we can bring to the table while promoting that sometimes the government is the problem and creates some of the issues. That’s why it’s important to push the idea of the party and get it out there to inform others of the political philosophy.”
Learn more about the Ontario Libertarian Party here. Follow Tisdale on social media @ZTisdale.
