When it was learned that FP volunteers were picking up garbage as a community service, an official from Ontario's Ministry of the Environment pointed out that Freedom Party was picking up garbage "without a permit." But because the service was being offered free, the Ministry's hands were tied in its attempt to lay appropriate charges against us. (As an officially-registered political party, we were, of course, accepting tax-creditable contributions that could be used to support our campaign.)

Ironically, the Ministry never directly contacted anyone at Freedom Party offices, and we only learned of their efforts when a reporter from the London Free Press called us to ask if we had the approval of the Ministry to conduct our campaign.

Our reply? We had the approval of the citizens of London and that was the only approval that was of concern to us.

We added that the Ministry's attempt to apply its regulatory restrictions to our campaign was so absurd that we would welcome them to lay charges. In any case, since our response, we've heard nothing more from them.

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Page last updated on January 7, 2004