Oct 09, 2008 - 04:33 PM

By Jeff Mitchell

DURHAM -- There's not much chance that after next week's election Henry Zekveld will be heading off to Ottawa.

Likewise, Doug Anderson faces some pretty hefty competition as he submits his name for the consideration of the electorate.

But in the weeks leading up to next Tuesday's federal election both men have been on the campaign trail, attempting to put their party's views before the people of their respective ridings.

Mr. Zekveld, a Bowmanville-area farmer, is representing the Christian Heritage Party in historically Conservative Durham riding, currently held by Bev Oda. Mr. Anderson is the Green Party candidate in Whitby-Oshawa where Jim Flaherty is the incumbent. Both have run for their parties in the past, garnering fractions of the votes cast in ridings that are home to high-ranking Tory cabinet members.

Both men will tell you they are as committed to their campaigns as any of their opponents. And even if victory is unlikely, they proudly carry the colours of their parties.

Mr. Zekveld's CHP is a fringe party, set apart from established parties by its explicit adherence to fundamental Christian values, including a vehement opposition to abortion. Mr. Anderson's Green Party began on the fringes as a voice for environmental advocacy but over time has grown and now fields candidates in all of the nation's 308 ridings. For the first time in this campaign its leader, Elizabeth May, took part in a nationally televised leaders' debate.

Neither the CHP nor the Greens have yet elected a Member of Parliament. Neither has drawn double digit percentage points in a national election.

Ask Mr. Anderson about his chances in a race against Conservative Finance Minister Jim Flaherty and transplanted Liberal candidate Brent Fullard, and he's upbeat.

"Can I win?" he asked during an interview in the early days of the campaign. "A week ago I would've told you not a chance, and I'd say right now it's a long shot.

"But given what's happened (during the campaign) . . . well, stranger things have happened."

Muse aloud about the likelihood of defeat for Mr. Zekveld and he's undeterred.

"I'm running because there's a party that represents me and there's the freedom to do so," he said.

"I love my country and I love my family and I want a country that is prosperous, clean and safe and where people care for each other."

From the Rhino Party to the Marijuana Party to the Canadian Extreme Wrestling Party (no kidding), there's a rich history of alternative political entities popping up on the Canadian landscape. Some are obviously satirical pokes at the political establishment; some have arisen to push social or regional issues to the forefront of a crowded national agenda.

Jonathan Greene, an assistant professor of politics and Canadian studies at Trent University in Peterborough, said the participation of alternative candidates can contribute to discourse and, in the long run, political movement.

Canadian politics are, after all, by and large a fight for the middle, he said. Controversial topics can be skirted and stances on issues tailored not just to attract votes but also to avoid alienating potential supporters.

"If you want to gain as a party you really have to go for the average voter," Mr. Greene said. "You become less ideological."

The result can be a perception among the voters that there are really more similarities than differences among the parties and their leaders, he said. That can lead to disillusionment and apathy, a dangerous trend in a nation where barely more than half of eligible voters cast a ballot.

Fringe candidates can give voice to those who feel they're not represented by mainstream parties, Mr. Greene said.

"We're a pluralistic society," he said. "The more voices the better."

And if a party has enough resonance, it may eventually find itself gaining political currency. Mr. Greene points to a number of parties that began on the fringes before gaining momentum and the legitimacy of voter support.

The Reform Party of Preston Manning began as a Western protest movement and eventually usurped the Progressive Conservative party as the voice of Canada's right before merging with the old-school Tories to form the current Conservative party. The Bloc Quebecois was forged in the fires of the separatist movement and wound up at one point forming the Official Opposition in Ottawa. The Green Party, long perceived as a single-issue entity, was welcomed in from the cold when leader Elizabeth May was finally allowed to participate in nationally televised debates with other mainstream party leaders.

And remember the CCF? It was a socialist movement founded on the Prairies, the party of Tommy Douglas and universal health care that paved the way for the NDP.

"Some parties eventually do break through," Mr. Greene said.

The issue for alternative parties may become this: Do you keep on with the message that began on the fringes or adapt and pursue the moderate middle that elects governments?

"Once you become part of the process, if you had a radical edge, do you start to shed some of that?" Mr. Greene said.

"Parties go through renewal processes. There's always a concern that you're losing the base of the movement."

One entity that can be said to have made the move from the fringes closer to the mainstream is Mr. Anderson's Green Party, for which he serves as a federal councillor and has run as a candidate twice. Arising from the environmental movement of the 1960s, the party, now more than two decades old, is making inroads with Canadian voters, he said.

"My take is that the Green Party isn't a fringe party," Mr. Anderson asserted.

"We're outside the mainstream because we're ahead of everyone else, I think."

The ultimate breakthrough, of course, would be to see a Green candidate elected in Tuesday's election. Mr. Anderson says he expects more than one Green MP to be Ottawa-bound.

Mr. Zekveld, like his CHP colleagues, wears his heart on his sleeve: He is a Christian -- he speaks to a reporter at the kitchen table under a poster reciting the Ten Commandments -- and believes the principles espoused by his religion provide the framework for effective and ethical governance.

He admits the party's religious affiliation might make some voters wary, but takes pride in the CHP's refusal to make concessions to appeal to a wider constituency.

"It may be an encumbrance," he said of the Christian affiliation, "but it's honest."

As for softening the party's approach to campaigning, "That would be compromising and that I cannot do."

Both candidates say that in spite of the odds they'll continue to answer the election call, promoting their beliefs and visions for the country.

"As a Christian I must be involved in politics," Mr. Zekveld said. "It's my duty."

Mr. Anderson feels he's riding a wave that has yet to crest.

"Because it's important," he responded when asked why he makes the sacrifice a candidate must.

"It is incredibly important for the future of this country and the world that we get it right.

"I can't think of anything I'd rather be doing right now."