IMPRISONED CANDIDATE COULD DECIDE TIGHT N.S. RACE

'He Can't Go Door To Door': NDP Fears Marijuana Party Leader Will Take Away
Its Votes In Aug. 5 Election

Nova Scotia New Democrats are fuming that they may lose a hotly contested
riding because of a "spoiler" candidate -- a convicted drug trafficker who
is running in the riding of Halifax Citadel from a New Brunswick prison.

Michael Ronald Patriquen, the leader of the Marijuana Party of Nova Scotia,
is serving a six-year sentence in Dorchester, N.B., after pleading guilty
to conspiracy to traffic marijuana.

But his candidacy in the Halifax riding could pull enough votes from the
NDP to decide the outcome of the riding, and possibly even the entire Nova
Scotia election.

Some observers say Patriquen could be the determining factor in the race
among the NDP's Peter Delefes, Conservative Health Minister Jane Purves and
Liberal leader Danny Graham.

"It's so close that you couldn't get a piece of sandpaper between the
candidates," said Agar Adamson, a retired political science professor. "A
third party, like the Marijuana Party, could pick up 40 votes or 104 votes
and that could make the difference."

The riding, which has a long history of close races, could go to any of the
candidates when polls close on Aug. 5.

"I had a conversation last evening with someone who's working within the
NDP campaign in Halifax Citadel. Her view is that it is so tight that the
votes that go to the Marijuana Party could significantly affect who wins,"
said Trudie Richards, a public relations professor at Halifax's Mount Saint
Vincent University.

The only public opinion poll of the provincial campaign showed the Tories
and Liberals running neck and neck at 22% provincewide, and the NDP close
behind at 17. The survey of 702 Nova Scotians, conducted two weeks ago,
found 34% of voters undecided.

Mr. Delefes, who was the area's MLA from 1998 to 1999, said Patriquen
should not be allowed to run.

"I think that if one is incarcerated with a serious charge of that sort,
one should be denied the right to run as a candidate," the NDP candidate said.

"He can't go door to door; can't attend debates and rallies that give the
public an opportunity to speak with him and learn his views."

Nova Scotia election rules do not prohibit candidates from running from
behind bars, nor do they require that candidates live in their riding or
even the province.

Roderick MacArthur, chief clerk of Nova Scotia's House of Assembly, said
Patriquen is believed to be the first person to exercise his right to run
for office from prison.

Mr. MacArthur was nonplussed when asked what would happen if Patriquen won.
"We've never had this problem before, so this is getting pretty
hypothetical," he said. "If, say, he got past the initial swearing-in, the
House of Assembly .. would have the right to dismiss him. They could do that."

However, the Liberal leader said he is not concerned about that possibility.

"If he's going to be competitive, he needs to catch up on lawn signs," Mr.
Graham said yesterday. "The lawn signs here seem to be generally red. I'm
not sure what the colours are for Mr. Patriquen's signs. Perhaps they're
green and leafy, but I haven't seen too many of them, at least as lawn signs."

Speaking from Westmorland Institution, a federal minimum-security prison,
Patriquen said his health is keeping him from mounting an all-out campaign.
Corrections Canada will not let him use the medical marijuana he said he is
entitled to under a Health Canada exemption to treat chronic pain caused by
a spinal cord injury.

"I signed the nomination papers and that's it," said Patriquen, explaining
that his wife, Melanie Stephen-Patriquen, is running his campaign.

He said he has no expectations of winning the seat. All he hopes to do is
raise awareness about marijuana issues.

"You throw your hat in the ring. You pick up what comes out of it," he said.