Against all odds, NL Alliance hopes to bring change to provincial politics

As the candidates of Newfoundland and Labrador's newest political party knock on their final doors before election day, there's one word they try to leave out of their pitch for votes.

"While the Alliance is a party in the technical sense, we don't really refer to ourselves as that," said Ryan Lane, the NL Alliance candidate forCape St Francis.

Like any political upstart worth its salt,NL Alliance members think of themselves more as attempting to redefine the system than maintaining the status quo. For Lane,that includes the P-word;he emphasizes the word "alliance" instead,and its definition as a formal group of people with a common aim(according to the Canadian Oxford Dictionary).

While that may sound much like the goal of a political party, NL Alliance candidates are quick to assure you there's a crucial difference.

"We're not loyal to our party," said Warrick Butler, the NL Alliance candidate for Conception Bay South.

"We don't have to toethat party line.I think that's where we separate ourselves from the other parties."

Butler and Lane vow to vote according to constituents' wishes if they ever make it to the House of Assembly, although Lane himself admitted he's a long shot in Thursday's election.

Electoral reform

The NL Alliance officially came into being in April, just days before the Liberals called the election.Itsnine candidates, under leader GraydonPelley,are united in their ambition to upend the current political system, which they maintain is broken beyond repair.

"Our system just isn't working for us anymore," said Lane.

The NL Alliance envisions a different political world: one in which every eligible voter casts a separate ballot for premier, there's a ranked ballot system for district candidates, and all elected MHAs get to choose cabinet ministers, just to name a few of the electoral reforms on its extensive wish list.

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"Basically, what we're trying to achieve,is get rid of the partisan politics out of government," said Butler, who said the bulk of voter apathy he hears about on the campaign trail stems from the status quo.

"If you're happy where you're to now, Iguess it's working,but what I'm hearing [is] people are not happy, it's not working."

"While every opposition part in a campaign talks about change, the Alliance Ithink is the only option that's seeking real structural change," said Lane.

Lane would know. In the 2011 provincialelection, he had a true taste of the political party machine whenhe ran under the Liberal banner in the district of Terra Nova, losing to the PCs' Sandy Collins.

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Looking back, he called that version of himself "naive" in attempting to enact change through the establishment.

"Ihave a better understanding, or appreciation, for how the system is a part of the problem," he said. maintainingthe core beliefs he ran on remain aligned with the Liberals.

'Tough' campaign trail

Lane may also have an appreciation for how established parties help on the campaign trail. The NL Alliance candidateshave had to be willing to spend long nights folding their own flyers, and spending their spare time

"I don't have a budget like the rest," said Butler, who is holding down his day job in construction and has knocked on an estimated 2,000 doors in his off-hours.

People feel it's time for change, and that's what we're offering, is change.- Warrick Butler

Lane isn't getting much sleep either, as he balances his full-time job with an eight-month-old baby.

"That has been tough, but definitely worth it," said Lane.

Butler is up against the PC incumbent Barry Petten, and Liberal Kevin Baker, but Butleris optimistic he can capture the seat. Pollsters aren't quite so generous toward the NL Alliance, with one poll from MQO Research giving the party two per cent of voter support.

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But Butler has, he said, picked up steam door-to-door, aseligible and apathetic voters vent their frustrations.

With that, the polls agree;53 per cent of respondents to anAbacus Datapoll said they feel the province is headed in the wrong direction.

"People feel it's time for change, and that's what we're offering, is change," he said.

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