CANDIDATE PROFILE: GENE BALFOUR, LIBERTARIAN

NAME: Gene Balfour,

PARTY: Libertarian

AGE: 70

OCCUPATION: Retired after working 40-plus years in Information Technology IBM Canada, 28 years as an IT Recruiter, eight years as director, talent supply chain for an international systems integration consulting corporation.

RESIDENCE: Lived in Fenelon Falls since 2016; Four Mile Lake cottager since 1980.

PAST POLITICAL EXPERIENCE Eight past elections representing Libertarian Less Government policies: three federal, five provincial; Chairman of the Ontario Libertarian Party during the 2018 election; applied recruiting skills to field 116 candidates on a shoestring budget for the province's 124 ridings.

HOW WOULD YOU GRADE THE PROVINCE'S COVID-19 RESPONSE AND WHY?

"F (fail). The actual science was ignored. Fearmongering was the predominant policy. In October 2020, I sent MPP Laurie Scott www.gbdeclaration.com which offered a very reasonable, focussed protection plan; it was not considered. The victims of lockdown were considered inconsequential. The promotion of masking proved

useless. Case counts were untrustworthy. Vaccine mandates were unconstitutional. Ford's use of emergency powers were overly autocratic especially for the truckers protest."

IF ELECTED I WILL...

"After eight elections as a Libertarian, I have no illusions about getting elected.

Since 2007, I have been a persistent advocate for less government. I use elections to actively encourage citizens to embrace Libertarian ideas which lead to a less-divided and more cooperative civil society, to which Libertarians uphold four principles - individual liberty, personal responsibility, mutual respect and fairness - applied equally to every citizen under unbiased laws. The unbiased laws aspect is where the greatest damage has been done by dishonest politicians to undermine democracy. Trust in politicians and government officials has never been lower because legislation is rife with bias. This, in turn, breeds distrust and divisiveness among citizens.

The OLP began promoting Freedom of Choice in 1975. Real choice for citizens faded as Canada morphed from the capitalist, democratic nation of my childhood to a complex and deeply-entrenched matrix of self-serving institutions that exist mainly to exploit us under regimes of crony capitalism, socialism and statism.

Post-election, I will continue to write. My essays address local, provincial and global issues/events from a Libertarian and Austrian economics perspective. Andrew Breitbart stated: "Politics is downstream of culture". These words continually inspire me to influence Ontario's political culture through my writing and promotional efforts. I hope that my growing readership will approve our ideas and lobby MPPS and MPS to adopt Libertarian principles and policies based upon them."