The Humanist Party of Ontario (HPO) was an unregistered political party in Ontario, Canada. The party has fielded candidates in the 1994 Toronto municipal election, the 1997 Toronto municipal election, the 1999 provincial election, and the 2003 Toronto municipal election. The HPO was a member of the Humanist International.

Ideology

The party's philosophy has its roots in the current of thought known as New or Universal Humanism, which has been developed since the 1960s by Mario Rodríguez Cobos. The HPO argues that, "by the very fact of being human, people should have their basic rights met".

Manifesto

The Humanist Party issued a document in 1999 entitled "ORANGE BOOK: For an Ontario of Human Rights". The basic positions outlined in this book include:

He has also produced "Making a Killing: Canada and the Arms Trade".

Verdecchia opposed plans for a bridge to the Toronto airport in the 2003 municipal election, and called for the establishment of "micro-banks" to provide interest-free loans in different neighbourhoods (Toronto Star, 6 November 2003). He was listed as 32 years old.

{| class="wikitable" width="800"

|+ Electoral record

|-

! align="left" | Election

! align="left" | Division

! align="left" | Party

! align="right" | Votes

! align="right" | %

! align="center" | Place

! align="center" | Winner

|-

| align="left" | 1997 federal

| align="left" | Trinity—Spadina

| align="left" | Ind.

| align="right" | 129

| align="right" |

| align="center" | 10/10

| align="left" | Tony Ianno, Liberal

|-

| align="left" | 1997 municipal

| align="left" | Ward 24 Council

| align="left" | -

| align="right" | 787

| align="right" | 1.58

| align="center" | 8/9

| align="left" | Olivia Chow and Kyle Rae

|-

| align="left" | 1999 provincial

| align="left" | Trinity—Spadina

| align="left" | Ind.

| align="right" | 258

| align="right" | 0.72

| align="center" | 6/8

| align="left" | Rosario Marchese, New Democratic Party

|-

| align="left" | 2000 municipal

| align="left" | Ward 20 Council

| align="left" | -

| align="right" | 1,126

| align="right" | 9.59

| align="center" | 3/3

| align="left" | Olivia Chow

|-

| align="left" | 2003 municipal

| align="left" | Ward 20 Council

| align="left" | -

| align="right" | 484

| align="right" | 4.77

| align="center" | 4/5

| align="left" | Olivia Chow

|}

The party's other candidate in the 1999 provincial election was Matthew Albrecht of Kitchener—Waterloo, who received 202 votes.

See also

  • List of Ontario political parties

References

  • Humanist Party
  • Humanize Toronto
  • Echo - Humanist periodical published by Roberto Verdecchia