A Squamish man has joined the four people vying to represent West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast.
Marc Bombois has filed his nomination papers under the Canadian Action Party (CAP) banner.
Bombois, a general contractor based in Squamish, also contested the seat for the party in 2000, gaining 345 votes across the riding.
The CAP, founded in 1999 by former Liberal cabinet minister Paul Hellyer, styles itself as "a dedicated and proud group of Canadians who intend to do everything possible to keep Canada independent while cooperating fully with the global family of nations."
Vancouver's Connie Fogal, who replaced Hellyer in a leadership convention in February, now leads the party.
The party is strongly opposed to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), specifically Chapter 11 of the agreement, which gives corporations the right to sue governments if a law infringes on current or future profits.
"It's very bad for Canada," said Bombois. "Is our federal government our government or is NAFTA our government?"
The party also wants to end the power of privately-owned banks to create money, returning it to the exclusive control of the Bank of Canada.
Currently, Bombois said, banks create 95 per cent of all the money in current circulation in Canada, and the total debt owed by Canadians is three times the monetary supply.
Among other policies, the party also wants to abolish the Goods and Services Tax (GST) over three years and introduce tax reform and an elected senate.
Bombois found himself before the courts earlier this year for refusing to file his income tax returns, in a move he describes as a political protest.
He has since made arrangements with the Canadian Revenue Agency to pay his outstanding tax bill.
"How naïve and stupid of me," Bombois said of the action. "The law couldn't care less about political protests. Its concern is that the law is followed."
Bombois' campaign will be low-key and low budget. "We're not funded by multinational corporations like the Liberals and the Conservatives or by big labour like the NDP," he said.
"I have no illusions about whether or not I can win. Nevertheless, I have hundreds of supporters, and they're insisting that I run to give them the vote they want to give. A lot of people understand about NAFTA and what it's doing."
He plans to go to all-candidates' meetings throughout the riding and was recently in Powell River and the Sunshine Coast, an area he describes as his strongest base of support.
"It's a very well-informed activist community," he said.
