MARIJUANA HOPEFUL SOWS SEEDS FOR VOTES AT STETTLER FORUM

While most election candidates hand out brochures, election candidate Max
Cornelsson doles out marijuana seeds and advice on how to plant them.

Sporting a long pony-tail and a shirt adorned with marijuana leaf designs,
Cornelsson said growing hemp is the solution for farmers plagued by mad cow
fears and other economic hardships.

"There should be no more laws against hemp than there are against broccoli.
Hemp is no more harmful and it's a lot more useful," he told 200 people at
an election forum in Stettler on Monday.

Cornelsson, running in the Crowfoot riding, is one of 71 candidates across
Canada representing the Marijuana Party, which supports legalizing pot and
encouraging the hemp-growing industry.

Cornelsson, who was raised on a Stettler area farm, wants to set up a hemp
co-op in Stettler and eventually build a methanol-production facility.

He said fast-growing hemp is ideal for methanol production, which can lead
to power generation.

The cash crop can also be made into paper, cloth, plastic and other
materials. But growing hemp is discouraged because there is too much
government red tape, he said.

Cornelsson, who has smoked pot every day for 36 years, handed out small
packs of seeds for growing industrial hemp and a weak marijuana that can
also be used for industrial purposes.

Voters said Cornelsson was a breath of fresh air in a sometimes
disappointing political arena, but they won't likely vote for him.

"It was just really interesting to hear someone with those beliefs, and he
certainly looked the part," said Marie Gridley of Big Valley. She pointed
to Cornelsson's campaign vehicle, a 1970s Continental with the words Hemp
For Hope on the sides.

But Cornelsson's competitors in the Crowfoot riding presented other
solutions for the ailing agriculture sector, which was the main topic of
the forum.

Incumbent Kevin Sorenson, a Conservative candidate, said the cattle
industry needs to diversify.

"Seventy-two per cent of all our beef is exported to the U.S. The problem
is 72 per cent is only six per cent of what they import. They have other
ways of bringing in beef," said Sorenson.

"We perhaps have grown a little too complacent and quite willingly accepted
the U.S. market as all we need."

A cattle farmer complained that packing plants are continuing to gouge
farmers. He blamed the Conservatives and Bloc Quebecois for voting against
levying fines against the plants for failing to show the government their
financial books.

Sorenson, who sat on the agriculture committee, said he and his cohorts
agreed that the books should be investigated in depth by the Competition
Bureau instead of the government. They didn't see the use in levying fines,
he said.

But Liberal candidate Adam Campbell said the packing plants should have
been fined.

"If they are in contempt of Parliament and you have a law and you are
willing to enforce it, if you don't put a fine behind it, what's the law
worth?" asked Campbell.

Campbell said Canada has to reduce its reliance on U.S. corporations
including owners of packing plants.

Green party candidate Arnold Baker said trade agreements need to be
renegotiated because they favour the U.S. and large corporations.

New Democrat Ellen Parker agreed that free trade has never been fair to
Canada. She said Canada should pursue other markets where it can compete
more fairly.