JAILED CANDIDATE WOOS CAPTIVE CROWD

Don Briere, the impish 54-year-old behind the Da Kine Cafe, Commercial
Drive's infamous pot den, is giggling with excitement at making history --
the first federal inmate to run for a seat in a B.C. election.

From time to time, politicians end up behind bars -- they rarely begin
their careers there.

Incarcerated in the Pacific Institution/Matsqui Complex in Abbotsford as
one of B.C.'s biggest marijuana dealers and awaiting trial on pot
possession charges over his role last summer at Da Kine, Briere this week
launched his bid as the Marijuana Party candidate in Surrey-Tynehead hoping
to unseat Liberal incumbent Dave Hayer.

"The guys in here love it," he said gleefully, blue eyes asparkle, his hair
dyed the colour of wheat.

"This is the first time it's happened. I've been campaigning in here and a
lot of guys are going to be voting for me. This is a democracy, we do have
free speech and the staff here have been great."

In 2002, the Supreme Court of Canada struck down the law that stripped the
right to vote from inmates sentenced for serious offences, and there now is
no law precluding prisoners from running in an election provided they meet
the normal nomination criteria.

The high court said such a measure could not reasonably be justified in a
free and democratic society, so the B.C. Elections Act was subsequently
amended so inmates can vote this time around.

Since then, a paranoid schizophrenic man incarcerated in an Ontario
hospital for the criminally insane ran in that province's 2003 election and
in Nova Scotia another Marijuana party candidate serving jail time for pot
offences ran unsuccessfully for a provincial seat there in 2003.

His incarceration, Briere concedes, puts a bit of a crimp in his campaign,
but it hasn't doused his enthusiasm.

"'Vote Me In To Get Me Out -- that should be my slogan,' " he quipped.
"That and 'Tax the Weed.'"

Briere, who was marking his 236th day in the hoosegow Thursday, said he
felt forced into politics to change what he considers an unjust law.

"I'm a victim of the war on marijuana and Ottawa's failed criminal
prohibition. We should be taxing marijuana. We are wasting scarce law
enforcement resources locking up gardeners while leaving billions on the
table in uncollected tax revenue. It makes no sense."

Briere ran in the last provincial campaign and got about two per cent of
the vote in the same riding -- coming fifth out of seven on the eve of
going to jail to begin serving a four-year sentence for trafficking,
weapons offences and money laundering.

Out on parole last year, he and his partner Carol Gwilt opened Da Kine Cafe
for marijuana consumers. After being open for several months, the popular
pot shop was raided by police. Gwilt, who is free on bail while awaiting
trial on charges as a result of her involvement, is also running as a
Marijuana party candidate in Maple Ridge-Mission.

Briere said Gwilt and other friends are running his campaign outside of
prison putting up signs, phoning voters and attending candidates meetings
when possible. And Marijuana party leader Marc Emery was especially high
about his candidacy.

"This man should be out in the community educating people about the
benefits of a non-criminal, regulatory approach to marijuana, not rotting
in a jail cell on the taxpayer's dime," he said.

Briere insisted he isn't a one-issue candidate.

"Tuition fees are too high and they've closed too many schools," he said
launching into a riff about education policy.

And don't get him started on BC Ferries, BC Rail, the economy, or health
care -- "Why are we laying off health care workers and hiring more cops?"
he says before delivering another set-piece speech.

Still, there's little chance he'll be elected May 17 -- but he's hoping he
might get parole again. His hearing is set for the morning after polls close.