It isn’t easy being Green. In the Yellowhead consituency, Kermit the Frog’s lament could extend to political candidates sporting orange and red as well. As candidates print their brochures, slip on an extra layer for door knocking in the frigid temperatures of January and perfect their pitch for candidates’ forums soon to be dominating their weeknights, they are faced with a daunting opponent. Incumbent Member of Parliament Rob Merrifield first rode to Ottawa on a wave of popular support in 2000, then only built on his impressive margin of victory last year as he captured the riding with the support of more than 68 per cent of voters.

Merrifield has name recognition, money to burn and a record in the House of Commons on which to run. The other candidates, meanwhile, share two things at least: a determination to be part of the debate, and a refusal to be cowed by the odds facing them next month.

“The big problem is that people are scared of change .... they are nice to you at the door but when you have election day, it’s a different story,” says NDP candidate Noel Lapierre

“The Conservatives could run a dead dog here and still be elected.”

Liberal candidate Nancy Love has seen the uglier side of the electoral process.

“One of the things that Liberals fight in Alberta is ...  a disdain that many people have for the federal Liberal party ... I’m working on that one conversation at a time,” she says. When running for the party of Jean Chretien and Paul Martin in 1997,  Love had a “particularly nasty” time at more than one all-candidates forum.

“There were a couple of forums in Hinton and Drayton Valley where people were just enraged with the government,” she recalls. “When I talked to them about their concerns it seemed that they were on the same page as me in terms of values, but they were furious.”

The issue of gun control was driving public hostility towards the Liberals in 1997, Love believes, and although there are current issues that could rouse fervent reactions from some in the riding, she is more comfortable this time around.

“I think I’m a little smarter and I know not to take things personally,” Love says.

While she may be more confident, Love will not have nearly as much money in hand to promote herself this time around.

The Liberals spent more than $46,000 in Yellowhead during the 1997 campaign, a figure that has fallen with each passing election. In 2004, the Liberals spent less than $11,000. Love is determined to have a larger amount to operate with this year.

“The party has been pretty good considering that we only had 11 per cent of the vote last year,” she says of the money she’s been able to secure for her campaign. “Good Liberals in Alberta have already donated their maximum ... we are getting our share and a little bit more because I’ve been persistent on that. I know what I’m up against.”

Love and her 20-person campaign team are planning to do most of their work after the Christmas period, but for now are busy taking care of administrative business. With no formal party structure, simple tasks like filing official Elections Canada forms become the responsibility of the candidate.

“Since I ran in ’97 there has been very little structure to the Liberal party in the riding ... I spend all my time with people who are not members of the party,” she says.

“The feeling I got in ’97 was that people were reluctant to join the party ... they might vote for you in secret but to actually be a member is socially unacceptable.” 

Local Green Party candidate Monika Schaefer faces a similar challenge with her campaign.

“I’m sort of isolated here in Jasper, there’s lots of support, but not a real ‘team’ behind me,” she says. As she campaigns, Schaefer is trying to change the public perception of what the Green Party proposes. 

“There seems to be the conception of the Greens being a very fringe movement ... that’s something that’s being dispelled day by day. We’re offering common sense solutions,” she says.

One method some Green candidates have used to emphasize the party’s mainstream nature is to claim that it is more conservative than the Conservatives. Schaefer is reluctant to endorse statements of that kind because she believes that for many Canadians the term has become synonymous with the party.

“I suppose that the definition of conservative has altered in people’s minds ... and that makes all the difference,” she says. “One has to be very careful about using those words that have been usurped,” she says. “I am a small-c conservative, in the sense of my conservation ethic.”

The Conservative Party, meanwhile, has policies that Schaefer says will alter the environment and Canadian society in a radical way.

“Their policies are about changing things,” she says.

Arguments about long-term planning and conservation often generate a positive response from citizens, Schaefer has found.

“I think they find that it’s very refreshing to hear about and I think that deep down people recognize that we are in a crisis situation on this planet,” she says.

Love, Schaefer and Lapierre all believe that   a Conservative government would change Canada for the worse, and  will be trying to convince Yellowhead voters to make a little change of their own on January 23rd.

“It’s election time and people need to make the change,” says Lapierre. “Don’t be scared.”