"If it takes force to impose your ideas on your fellow man, there is something wrong with your ideas. If you are willing to use force to impose your ideas on your fellow man, there is something wrong with you." - Mark Fournier, co-founder of Freedominion









C anadian conservatism was at a low point. Stockwell Day had just lost the federal election in the previous year, and the Democratic Representative Caucus was launching a mini-coup d’etat against his leadership. The Progressive Conservative Party was led by a ‘not-so-conservative’ Joe Clark, who was soon to leave the party in a state of bankruptcy. The Liberal Party was never more full of hubris and contempt for conservatives. After three majority wins they expected to govern forever. Paul Martin was destined to win the biggest majority in the history of Canada. Quebec was governed by the socialist PQ and all the provinces in western Canada were NDP with the exception of Alberta. This was the same year that Stephen Harper and friends wrote the infamous firewall letter and published it as a manifesto bordering on Alberta separatism. Policies across the board were veering to the left. Taxes were too high, the eco-cult was firing up the socialist global warming schemes, same-sex marriage was in the works and our ill-prepared soldiers were being sent to Afghanistan wearing the wrong coloured uniforms.





The year was 2001 and the website Freedominion was launched.





In the early days of Freedominion, people of all conservative stripes were attracted to the site. The forum was a way of connecting conservatives coast-to-coast in a grassroots way that rarely happened in real life. Debates raged and new topics were constantly posted. The site was based around a U.S. predecessor called Free Republic and the ‘anything goes’ atmosphere was a refreshing, honest and bold addition to the political dialogue in Canada.





“The internet will continue to play an increasing role in the interactive citizen government e-relationship. Free Dominion is one of the many steps in that direction.” - Stephen Harper





With growth came attention. Thousands of grassroots conservatives being drawn to a website was what made it ripe for association. Important people recognized the site as ‘the place to be’. Critics also began to notice that it was a hub for anything non-leftist. This was during a time in Canada’s not so recent past, in which anything remotely conservative was appalling to a large segment of society that was thoroughly indoctrinated into leftist ideology. The founder’s of Freedominion added a massive collective voice to Canada’s political culture and the mainstream began to notice.





"I was deeply disturbed by these comments, which in no way reflect my views or those of the Conservative Party.” - CPC MP, Peter Goldring, on Gordon Stamp’s Freedominion posts.



