Doug Pederson says he’s running as an independent candidate in the federal election because all politicians are “vile, lying individuals” and he wants transparency. He’s also an advocate for marijuana, which he calls a “performance enhancing drug.” (Richard McGuire photo)
Brian Gray, independent candidate, says a “NATO-backed coup” in Ukraine, which led to a “Nazi junta,” prompted him to run for election. (Richard McGuire photo)
Independent candidates are rarely elected to Parliament, but that hasn’t stopped Brian Gray, of Penticton, or Doug Pederson, of Osoyoos, from throwing their hats into the ring.
“I’ll never get elected,” admits Pederson, 67, a retired computer programmer who has run in four previous federal, provincial and municipal elections.
In most of those elections, Pederson has come dead last.
“If you’re going to come in last, come in very last,” said Pederson. “And I have.”
Gray, 66, has run in two previous elections, one provincial and one municipal, both in Burnaby in the 1970s.
“I entered this campaign with full understanding that for an independent campaign, the mainstream political structure in Canada is tough to buck,” admits Gray.
In recent decades, most of the independent MPs originally gained their seats as candidates of one of the major parties, but later left their parties to sit as independents.
Only a few have been elected as independents, and those candidates have been high profile.
The late Chuck Cadman was elected as an independent in 2004, but he had served previously under the Reform and Canadian Alliance banners.
Former Quebec MP André Arthur was elected twice as an independent, in 2006 and 2008, despite having never been elected under a political party. But he was a high-profile radio talk show host.
While Gray has now met the requirements to become an official candidate, Pederson is still struggling to obtain the required 100 signatures. As of last week, he was only around the 40-signature mark with the nomination deadline on Monday, Sept. 28.
Pederson said he’s stopped asking friends to sign his papers, because it creates bad feelings when they refuse.
For both independents, the election is more about putting forward ideas than winning a seat in Ottawa.
Gray said the issue that prompted him to enter the election was what he terms “the U.S.-led and British and NATO-backed coup in Ukraine in the beginning months of 2014, which quite frankly was a Nazi putsch, and subsequent Nazi junta, run by (Petro) Poroshenko now, with Canadian support.”
Pederson says he “hates” all politicians and calls them “vile, lying individuals.” He excludes himself from this description, saying he’s not a politician because he won’t be elected.
Armed with a video camera, he aims to hold politicians to account.
“We need transparency,” he said. “They keep everything from us. They couldn’t lie to us if they were totally open. Otherwise we would come up and down with pitchforks and torches. Like it should be.”
Pederson also says he’s been an advocate for marijuana “since forever,” adding that everything said about it in the media and by government is lies.
He calls marijuana a “performance enhancing drug” and said it should be “mandatory” for some people, such as those who regularly use violence against others.
“If people who are abusive come home and they smoke a joint by direction from the law, they would be much nicer at home,” he said. “They wouldn’t be very aggressive. They’d be thinking about fun things to do… It would calm killer bees if you set a plant beside their hive.”
Marijuana, he said, gives him some of his best ideas on the way to the fridge.
“You only need one out of 10 to be any good to be way ahead of the game,” he said.
Gray, who opposes marijuana, puts forward other issues in his brochure, which draws heavily on the ideas put forward in the magazine The Canadian Patriot and its website.
He is also influenced by the ideas of U.S. activist Lyndon LaRouche and he finds common ground with the United Kingdom’s new Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn.
He calls for restoring the “four pillars” banking regulations that maintain a separation between commercial, investment, trusts and insurance banking transactions.
He wants the Bank of Canada to be used to fund large-scale infrastructure and science projects. These would include developing the Arctic, high-speed rail, nuclear energy and revitalizing Canada’s space program.
Gray also wants Canada to pull out of NATO and align itself with the BRIC countries, Brazil, Russia, India and China. He would cut off Canadian financial support for the British monarchy.
Gray believes that financial collapse is imminent and this could lead to global war.
Pederson has his own ideas about Canada’s place in the world.
“If we did a Canuxit, like Greece almost did with the Grexit, we’d be far better off than Greece,” he said.
The term “Grexit” was coined to refer to a withdrawal of Greece from the Euro zone. Pederson says Canada should pull out of the global economy.
“We’re racing to the bottom as far as wages go,” Pederson said. “If we supplied our own people with everything we need, we’d be doing far better than we’re heading right now.”
He would keep out exports by imposing high tariffs. He would also give foreigners, such as the Chinese, who own property in Canada, five years to sell off their property or it would be confiscated.
“What good does it do to have foreigners owning all the properties in Vancouver?” he asks. “It’s not very good for the people. It’s great for the real estate people, but not great for young people.”
Medicine stones are the most sacred things in North America, Pederson said. It’s his belief in their power that gave him the name “Stone Dan.” (He wanted to be called “Stone Dancer” when he obtained an email address, but at the time Telus limited names to eight characters.)
Pederson claims that when he was kept from showing his medicine stones at Expo ’86, he put a curse on an Expo official, causing it to rain for 17 days. When Expo relented, and allowed him on the site, he caused a record 54 straight days of sunshine.
“I was in control of the weather 70-some days,” he said.
While Gray is earnest about his political ideas, Pederson takes himself less seriously.
“Make me look like a kook,” he tells a reporter as his interview wraps up.
RICHARD McGUIRE
Osoyoos Times
