GOT AN IDEA? START A POLITICAL PARTY

It's Easy In Wacky B.C.

When Mark Gueffroy gets upset, his earnest voice can quiver with anger.

"Dude," you might think of telling him, "you could use a spliff."

The irony is the 21-year-old is a toke-free candidate for the Marijuana
Party. That would put him on the far fringe of a fringe party.

Leery of riding a one-trick-pony, Gueffroy said he got permission from the
green-leaf brass to promote his own platform as well, mostly increased
funding for a range of groups including students and low-income families.

"The election for me is about civil rights and it's about community," said
Gueffroy.

The wide array of single-issue parties in this election makes a great case
for multi-MLA ridings. Then, you could send Marijuana, Work Less and Sex
candidates to Victoria all in one swoop.

Work Less has slogans such as "Workers of the World -- Relax" and "Alarm
clocks kill dreams."

The Sex Party is holding a fund-raiser that includes erotic performance
art, "sex chat and hot poetry" and the chance to "colour your coochee."

"No costume too outrageous, clothes optional, audience participation
encouraged," reads their poster. "Not for prudes," it adds.

The one-plank platforms are easy to poke fun at. But these parties provide
more than comic relief, even if it's just to alert people who might not
usually pay attention that there's an election on out there. And, mock if
you will, but many of the fringe parties raise serious issues.

With Marijuana, it's civil liberties, crime and the futility of prohibition
when money could be better spent on social services. The Sex Party raises
awareness of, well, sex, as well as violence against prostitutes.

Sex Party Leader John Ince is surprised there hasn't been more snickering
over his party.

"We're pretty pleased with the seriousness with which the media have
greeted us," he said. "What really brings it down to earth is there's an
identifiable minority, sex workers, who are the subject of mass killings.
If that isn't serious, I don't know what is."

Work Less holds consumerism, pollution and our stressed-out lives up to the
magnifying glass.

"We want to raise serious issues, but we take a fun approach," said Conrad
Schmidt, leader of Work Less. "People are starting to realize that overwork
is a serious, serious problem, not just for our society but for the planet,
as well."

Canada's other provinces don't prove as fertile a breeding ground, in part
because it's easier to register as a party in B.C. than most provinces.
Thus, there's the Party of Citizens Who Have Decided To Think For
Themselves And Be Their Own Politicians.

There are 42 single-issue parties in this election, up from 30 in 2001.