MARIJUANA PARTY CANDIDATE QUITS AGAIN

She Does Not Want To Be Linked To The Party After It Hired Disgraced
Alliance Aide

A candidate for the Marijuana party of B.C. has quit over the role being
played in the party's campaign by a former aide to a Canadian Alliance MP.

Meaghan Walker-Williams has resigned as the party's candidate in
Cowichan-Ladysmith because the party hired Matthew Johnston, who
impersonated Edmonton MP Rahim Jaffer on CKNW radio late last month.

Johnston had been Jaffer's executive assistant but quit over the controversy.

In a media statement this weekend, Walker-Williams said about Johnston: "I
can't stand liars. They just really bug the hell out of me. And I will NOT
be associated with any organization that aids, abets or gives credence to a
liar.

"So -- Sorry B.C. Marijuana party ... Sorry Cannabis Culture -- I simply
can't be a candidate. Not on these terms."

Johnston, 30, became acquainted with Marc Emery, the Marijuana party's
unofficial leader and fund-raiser, last year in London, Ont., at a
conference of the International Society for Individual Liberty. The meeting
attracted libertarians from around the world.

Walker-Williams, a 29-year-old aboriginal single mother from Vancouver
Island, also attended that meeting and met Emery and Johnston.

Johnston, who has been retained to set up the party's telecommunications
centre, said Monday that he regrets Walker-Williams' decision.

"I have a lot of respect for her and know of her work and admire it.

"I'm disappointed that she would come to this conclusion. But ultimately
it's her decision."

In her statement, Walker-Williams said she had already resigned as a
candidate once before because of the party's media image.

Walker-Williams, who does not smoke marijuana, said:

"I watched as some candidates who frankly scared me, clamoured for media
attention and indeed got it, while other candidates wore silly hats, and
did odd and outrageous things with media in attendance and this got the
party some ink.

"I did not want to associate with or be associated with this kind of
behaviour."

Walker-Williams, who has written on aboriginal issues, is a sharp critic of
the use of alcohol by native leaders.

Johnston said the Marijuana party is attempting to cultivate voters
federally aligned with the Canadian Alliance.