By Steve Rennie
Marijuana Party candidate John Akpata doesn’t mince words. The poet-turned-political hopeful is blunt when sizing up his competition in Ottawa Centre.
“Let’s be real. You can’t vote for the Liberals because they’re the sponsorship gang. You can’t vote for the Conservatives because they are Texas in Canada,” Akpata said. “You can’t vote for the Green Party because in the future they will sell you sunshine, charge you for water, tax you for wind.”
“Me? I think for myself and use my own mind and I encourage everyone else in the world to do the same.”
So far Akpata, 33, is the only visible minority registered to run in one of the city’s most multicultural ridings.
According to Statistics Canada, one in five Ottawa-Centre residents are visible minorities. Akpata says he represents the diversity of the riding, unlike the other four candidates.
“No disrespect to the white men, but they’re just not cutting it,” Akpata said. “For all the people that are excluded from the white male power structure, hopefully some of them will vote for me out of spite or out of principle.”
Akpata is currently the only candidate who is not affiliated with a major political party. In the last election voters chose from nine candidates, including four from “fringe” parties and one independent.
The Marijuana Party’s platform hinges on their policy to decriminalize marijuana. Akpata says the current legislation infringes on human rights.
“We want to change the law because if the government says it’s illegal for you to grow food and medicine, which is what marijuana in Canada is, then they’re violating your human rights,” he said.
A popular local poet who has won several poetry competitions, Akpata is also a photographer, a documentary filmmaker, freelance journalist and hosts his own weekly radio show on CHUO 89.1 FM.
“I’m a high-profile guy and Ottawa Centre is a high-profile riding,” Akpata said. “I’m a poet first and foremost and that’s what my role is in society, to bring new words and new ideas to the people and have them think about it.”
This isn’t the first time he’s tried his hand at politics. He was the Marijuana Party candidate in Ottawa South in the June 2004 election, garnering 495 of the 59,230 votes cast in that riding. Although he admits his odds of winning this time around are slim, Akpata says he hopes his party’s message strikes a chord with young voters in his riding.
“My job, really, is to get young people to participate in the political system. If you scream for more, chances are you might get it,” he said. “My whole thing is it’s not a racial thing, it’s not a minority thing, it’s a John Akpata thing. I’m tired. I can’t take it anymore.”