Ontario Libertarian Party
Provincial political party in Canada
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Ontario Libertarian Party (OLP; French: Parti libertarien de l'Ontario) is a minor libertarian party in the Canadian province of Ontario.
Ontario Libertarian Party Parti libertarien de l'Ontario | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leader | Sean Conroy |
| President | Michelle Lashbrook |
| Deputy Leader | Justin Leroux |
| Chairperson | Michelle Lashbrook |
| Vice Chairman | Scott Marshall |
| Secretary | Coreen Corcoran[1] |
| Chief Financial Officer | Neal Donnelly |
| Founded | July 24, 1974 |
| Registered | August 18, 1976[2] |
| Headquarters | 5115 County Road 10 Fournier ON K0B 1G0 |
| Membership (2018) | <600[3] |
| Ideology | |
| Colours | Yellow |
| Website | |
| libertarian | |
The party is guided by a charter of principles, and proposes an Ontario charter of rights and freedoms which includes a section on immigration language restrictions.[4] It holds that Ontario is a "sovereign state within the nation of Canada", and seeks to increase provincial autonomy.[5]
History
On May 26, 1974, Terry Coughlin was elected the first leader of the party at the Libertarian Party of Canada convention.[6] The party was officially founded on July 24, 1974 in Whitby.[7]
In 1978, a benefit concert named "Rock Against Repression" was organised by the punk group Battered Wives; proceeds were split between the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and Ontario Libertarian Party.[8]
Leaders
| Leader | Term start | Term end | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| George Dance | June 9, 1995 | 1996 | Interim |
| Sam Apelbaum | October 1996 | November 5, 2011[9] | |
| Allen Small | November 5, 2011[10][9] | July 13, 2018 | |
| Rob Ferguson | July 13, 2018[11] | November 2, 2019 | Interim |
| Keith Komar | November 2, 2019[12][13] | October 24, 2021 | |
| Mark Snow | October 24, 2021[12][14] | November 15, 2025 | |
| Sean Conroy | November 15, 2025[12] | present |
Election results
In the 2007 general election, the party fielded 25 candidates and obtained a total of 9,249 votes.[15]
In the 2011 general election, the party ran 51 candidates and won a total of 19,387 votes; the party received 0.45% of the popular vote, which was more than double the number of candidates and votes received in 2007.[16]
In the 2018 Ontario general election, the Libertarian Party ran in 117 out of 124 ridings, receiving 0.74% of the overall vote.
The party fielded only 16 candidates in the 2022 Ontario general election.
In 1986, president Kaye Sargent received 93 votes in the Cochrane North by-election.[17] In 2024, leader Mark Snow received 129 votes, 0.35%, in a by-election in Bay of Quinte.[18][19]
The party has never won a seat in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.[20]
| Election year | Leader | No. of overall votes |
% of overall total |
No. of candidates run |
No. of seats won |
+/− | Presence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | Terry Coughlin | 4,752 | 0.13% | 17 | 0 / 125 |
New Party | Extra-parliamentary |
| 1977 | Paul Mollon | 9,961 | 0.30% | 31 | 0 / 125 |
0 | Extra-parliamentary |
| 1981 | Scott Bell | 7,087 | 0.22% | 12 | 0 / 125 |
0 | Extra-parliamentary |
| 1985 | 12,831 | 0.4% | 17 | 0 / 125 |
0 | Extra-parliamentary | |
| 1987 | Kaye Sargent | 13,514 | 0.36% | 25 | 0 / 130 |
0 | Extra-parliamentary |
| 1990 | James Stock | 24,613 | 0.61% | 45 | 0 / 130 |
0 | Extra-parliamentary |
| 1995 | John Shadbolt | 6,085 | 0.15% | 7 | 0 / 130 |
0 | Extra-parliamentary |
| 1999 | Sam Apelbaum | 2,337 | 0.05% | 7 | 0 / 103 |
0 | Extra-parliamentary |
| 2003 | 1,991 | 0.04% | 5 | 0 / 103 |
0 | Extra-parliamentary | |
| 2007 | 9,249 | 0.21% | 25 | 0 / 107 |
0 | Extra-parliamentary | |
| 2011 | 19,447 | 0.45% | 51 | 0 / 107 |
0 | Extra-parliamentary | |
| 2014 | Allen Small | 37,696 | 0.81% | 74 | 0 / 107 |
0 | Extra-parliamentary |
| 2018 | 42,918 | 0.75% | 117 | 0 / 124 |
0 | Extra-parliamentary | |
| 2022 | Mark Snow | 5,242 | 0.11% | 16 | 0 / 124 |
0 | Extra-parliamentary |
| 2025 | 7,684 | 0.15% | 17 | 0 / 124 |
0 | Extra-parliamentary |
.svg){kind=small}
