Pubdate: Thu, 14 Sep 2000
Source: Hour Magazine (CN QU)
Website: http://www.afterhour.com
Address: 4130, St-Denis, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H2W 2M5
Contact:  http://www.afterhour.com/columns/c_forum.asp
Copyright: 2000, Communications Voir Inc.
Fax: (514) 848-9004
Author: Charlie McKenzie

LOCAL LADS DO GOOD

(Montreal) They went as strangers to strange lands in even stranger
circumstances, virtually penniless and alone, facing formidable foes and
obstacles, but in their electoral debut, two local lads from the
Montreal-based federal Marijuana Party did pretty well this past week.
Pretty well indeed for a one-issue party with a one-track mind. When
Chretien called the two by-elections last month, Bloc Pot militants Alex
Neron and Marc-Boris St-Maurice, sprang into action with Boris heading west
to take on Stockwell Day and Alex east to face Joe Clark. Alex also carried
a copy of a letter Joe Clark had written in 1979 in which he clearly states
his belief that marijuana is a harmless herb. He would have campaigned
anywhere Clark was running, but fortuitous coincidence brought them to the
Maritimes. "We badly needed people here,” he said, “some local contacts who
can help us organise for next the federal election.” “And now, thanks to
Clark and Chretien,” he grins, “we have them.” As an outsider he anticipated
a rough reception. “We had no idea how people would react to The Marijuana
Party),” he said, “but people here (Wolfville, N.S.) have been very, very
gentle and very, very kind. They were actually listening to us." One person
who definitely did not 't want to listen was Joe Clark. Twice during the
campaign Clark was presented with evidence of his previous convictions, and
both times he ducked the issue by running the clock with inane ramblings
about medicare.

Things came to a head at what was supposed to be an `all-candidates' meeting
at Acadia University.

Sources at Acadia quote Clark as telling the student union president that,
“I won't be coming if you have The Marijuana Party.” Alex, a registered
candidate, was refused admission. Those same sources at Acadia quote Student
Union president Ruth Petrykanyn as saying, “We don't have to hear from all
sides.

That merely lutters the mind.” Despite that minor setback, on election day,
2.6 per cent of the Kings-Hants electorate - 697 of them - voted for Alex.
Many more voted for Clark, but that's not the point Alex says. “We're not
here making promises like Joe,” he said. “What we're doing here is educating
people and creating something we've never had before - a debate about
marijuana.” Out west, Boris was making his peace with the rednecks, charming
the locals and discovering that the bible belt has a heart. In one of the
more bizarre episodes in recent Canadian politics, he got Stockwell Day to
publicly state that Day and Boris were in cahoots. “As you can see,” Day a
candidates meeting in Penticton, “Boris and I are secretly working together.

We hope to come out of the closet and meet, not secretly, but to talk.”
Presumably they would be talking about marijuana. Boris also won over Day's
campaign manager, Glen Duncan, who took to referring to him as “My Man,
Boris.” “How do I say this?,” Duncan told a local reporter. “He's bright,
articulate. He's a single issue - he makes no bones about it. He doesn't
denigrate any of the other candidates. He's respectful of all the other
candidates, and manages to spin every question back to his issue, which is
marijuana.” “And I think he's become a favourite - one of the few favourites
of the whole audience - at the all-candidates meetings." Then, realising
what he'd just said, Duncan quickly added: “Besides Stock, who's everybody's
favourite.” Day also followed up Boris' invitation and made a surprise
appearance at a Marijuana Party rally to close the campaign. In a field of
eight candidates, Boris garnered 436 votes, or 1.6 per cent of the
electorate. While the numbers appear low, the Okanagan-Coquihalla riding
contains some of BC's prime marijuana-growing country and many Marijuana
Party supporters were presumably working on the harvest. “The numbers by
themselves, don't tell the tale,” said Boris. “Regardless of what the final
result, this is a victory for us. We've never been in a federal election
before, so we this is just the first brick in the wall.  We've got a long
ways to go, but we're on our way.” “All we want is,” echoes his partner
Alex, “is to change the law. After that, we'll stop. But not one second
before.”
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MAP posted-by: Don Beck