IT'S NOT EASY BEING GREEN, OR ANY FRINGE PARTY

MARTENSVILLE -- Just two residents showed up at a Martensville
restaurant Tuesday for the provincial byelection campaign launch of
Green Party candidate Sandra Finley.

Such a turnout might be disheartening for some candidates, but Finley
said her primary goal is to get the message out.

"We won't win the byelection," said Finley, leader of the provincial party.

She points to national Green Party Leader Elizabeth May's showing in
the London North Centre federal byelection in November as an example
of the message a vote for the Greens would send to the provincial government.

"It sent a strong message to Conservatives . . . that the environment
is important, people are very concerned about it and we need action,"
she said. Finley also said tax dollars need to be evenly distributed
among all levels of government, and there should be greater
separation between government and business.

Candidates from four fringe parties will appear on ballots March 5.
Gordon Elias will run for the Western Independence Party (WIP),
Kurtis Hein for the Saskatchewan Heritage Party, Nathan Holowaty for
the Saskatchewan Marijuana Party (SKMP) and Finley for the Greens.

Mainstream party candidates include Nancy Heppner of the Saskatchewan
Party, Liberal Nathan Friesen and John Tzupa of the NDP.

Adopting Finley's mindset is Nathan Holowaty, leader and SKMP
candidate in the byelection. In a phone interview, Holowaty said he
wants ending marijuana prohibition to be in the voters' minds in
future elections.

"We're going to give it a good shot. What we're hoping to do is raise
awareness and bring this issue to the forefront," said Holowaty. An
end to prohibition would save taxpayers' money and free up law
enforcement resources, he said.

The WIP is hoping for a Martensville victory to rally a movement that
would end with sovereignty for Western Canada, beginning at Thunder
Bay and including the northern territories. It's a provincial party
with a western federal goal, said leader and candidate Gordon Elias.
Ottawa is too busy with Ontario and Quebec and does not care what
goes on in the West, he said.

"The eastern establishment has taught us that we are too stupid to
survive on our own," he said when asked if his plan is economically
viable. The WIP promotes democracy, said Elias, and would rely on
public referendums to solve major policy issues.

Kurt Hein, candidate for the newly formed Saskatchewan Heritage
Party, said commenting on the election outcome would be purely
speculation at this point.

"That's up to the voters," he said. The party is based entirely on
the character of Saskatchewan voters, and doesn't rely on any
political ideology, said Hein. Its economic policy is based solely on
serving Saskatchewan's best interests.

It's getting hard to differentiate between the mainstream parties,
said Barry Stubbington, one of the two Martensville residents who
came to hear Finley talk.

"A lot of their platforms and the way they conduct business
overlaps," he said. "The philosophies tend not to be as distinct as
they could be."