PARTIES COULD SAVE FACE BY DOING FACEBOOK CHECK FIRST

Almost half way through the federal election campaign and it seems
missteps, from both the past and present, are the defining features of
this campaign so far.

The party leaders may be intent on talking policy, but it seems some
of their candidates can't help but shift the spotlight with their
shenanigans.

While the Tories and their aides tend to put their feet squarely in
their mouths, the NDP have candidates-or should I say had candidates-
whose pasts are now catching up with them.

Three federal NDP candidates in B.C. have had to drop out after their
past indiscretions came to light.

In one case, the Saanich-Gulf Islands NDP candidate quit after his
decision to go skinny dipping in front of a group of teens several
years ago was, er, revealed.

But that was not nearly as boneheaded a move as the one by the party's
West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast candidate. It seems the former founder
of the B.C. Marijuana Party, who is now with the NDP, forgot to tell
his new party he dropped acid and smoked pot while driving. Not to be
outdone, the NDP's Vancouver-Quadra candidate dropped out after it was
revealed he too was filmed smoking pot.

All three events happened years ago but it's not the kind of thing a
political party can use to garner votes from Joe and Jane
Public-unless they are after the stoner vote. Of course, those folks
may forget to show up on election day.

Then there are the Conservatives. Their faux pas don't seem nearly as
fun. In fact, theirs seem downright mean.

There was Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz making inappropriate jokes
about the impact of the listeriosis outbreak and joking he hoped it
was his Liberal counterpart Wayne Easter who had died from the outbreak.

Ritz's remarks were not laughed at by one of his own constituents in
Saskatchewan whose mother died of listeriosis. Ritz apologized.

Then there was an aide to Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon who said
a group of native protesters at a Cannon constituency office could
protest if they "behaved" and were sober. Cannon apologized but
criticized the Liberals for complaining about it.

Not to be outdone on this side of the country, it was revealed last
week that the Tory candidate in Burnaby-New Westminster has been
disciplined not once, but three times by the Real Estate Board of B.C.

The Liberals have not been immune. They dumped their Quebec City
candidate, a former radio host, over his suggestions in 1990 that
lethal force should have been used to end Quebec's Oka crisis. The
Greens, well, they are still trying to field a full slate of candidates.

Just yesterday the party announced it had found someone to run in
Prince George-a woman from Vancouver. It seems no qualified female
candidate from the Prince George area wanted to run.

So the question is, how much background checking do the parties do
about the folks they trust to carry the party's colours in the election?

In an age when prospective employers regularly check applicants'
Facebook pages to see if they are stupid enough to post revealing
photos of themselves for all to see, you would think political parties
would do the same.

Alistair Waters is the assistant editor of the Capital News.