VICTORIA REPORT

VICTORIA - Pandora Street runs from staid Oak Bay right to downtown
Victoria. It has a wide centre boulevard adorned with lawn and trees. It is
heavily travelled and therefore an ideal location for election signs.

Yet, so far, the only signs sprouting on the lawn are of a mildly
anarchistic character. "Media-controlled Election Fraud," says one. Others
ponder politicians' lack of ethics. But not one sign urging motorists to
vote for this or that candidate.

I thought about the alleged media-controlled election fraud for a while and
couldn't help but give the sign at least some credence, particularly as far
as television's role in election campaigns is concerned.

The recent party leaders' debate on BCTV, an admittedly useless affair the
constraints of which didn't allow for any real exchange of ideas,
nevertheless was an example of how the media can sap democracy of its
lifeblood.

Four parties were represented - The NDP, the Liberals, the Greens and the
Unity Party. The latter two are not running full slates in this election.

Another party that is running a full slate was barred from the debate.

That would be the Marijuana Party. In spite of the fact that it is fielding
candidates in all 79 ridings, BCTV didn't deem it necessary to allow the
party to take part in the leaders' debate.

It isn't difficult to guess why. A party named after an illegal substance
causes shudders in the BCTV boardroom.

Yet, many of the Marijuana Party candidates, a university professor and a
former Alliance Party bigwig included, don't smoke the stuff and don't want
to. So what attracts them to the Marijuana Party?

Freedom and choice, they will tell you. The freedom to choose a lifestyle
not determined by the social engineering that has become the hallmark of
Canadian governments.

The war on drugs, they will tell you, was not only lost a long time ago,
but swallows enormous revenues that could be better spent on important
things like health care and education.

Thousands of Canadians, they will tell you, still get criminal records for
possession of marijuana, this despite the fact that close to 70 per cent of
Canadians want possession of marijuana decriminalized.

Whenever critics of our system of government get vocal, the advice is:
don't just protest, get involved. Run for political office, we tell them,
and change the system from within.

So here, some people decided to do just that. They formed a political party
and in no time at all, they had 79 candidates to run for office.

And if you think the Marijuana Party is a collection of left-wing would-be
rebels, think again. May of their policies are decidedly conservative,
appealing to the right wing of the political spectrum.

BCTV's decision to bar the Marijuana Party from the leaders' debate was a
total abrogation of its responsibility as a disseminator of news.

Media-controlled election fraud? Well, maybe not quite, but certainly
media-controlled news.

And that should worry us.

And lest someone whisper it your ears, yes, my oldest son, Chuck, is one of
the founders of the Marijuana Party and a candidate in this election.

I may not support all the policies of the Marijuana Party, and whether I
might vote for it is nobody's business but mine, but I am proud of my son
for doing what we have taught all our children:

Don't bitch and whine about the system, get involved and change it.