Sailor White to continue in politics
By GREG OLIVER -- SLAM! Wrestling
A fifth-place finish in a federal by-election would deter a lot of
people and get them down.
Not Ed 'Sailor' White, who has been through too much in his life to let
a loss in the St. John's West, Newfoundland by-election loss bother him.
In fact, he's told SLAM! Wrestling that he's looking at running again
either in the federal election that the Liberal government has to call
within the next year, or municipally.
"If there's a city election first, I'm going to run for councillor at
large and get on the city council," he said.
Next time around, he expects some more help in his corner and in the
corner of the fledgling Cutting Edge Wrestling Party. "I got a message
from Jesse Ventura. He hadn't known that I was down here by myself
trying to get something going. On his own expense, he would have come
down and helped me." In fact, he said that the CBC is trying to
organize a day where Ventura and White would meet with the Prime
Minister in Ottawa
All in all, running in the by-election cost him $1,000 for the
nomination fee (donated by Island RV), and $100 for various expenses.
Two good friends helped canvass the St. John's West riding, knocking on
doors, putting up posters, shuttling him around.
It was partly his friends who convinced him to run in the by-election.
"It was just on whim. The boys said 'You should go after it.' I said
'Okay, let's go!' I was expecting help from all my wrestlers down here,
and none of them helped me really. I asked my school to have a
fundraiser for me, and they said no."
Running in the by-election gave him a chance to talk about some issues
that are close to his heart. "I believed in the issues. I got tired.
I've been trying to get a youth centre going and I got tired of getting
the runaround. So I thought maybe if I get into the election, I thought
that I'd have a chance to speak my piece, get the word out that I'm
trying to get a youth centre and also something to help the senior
citizens."
But like Ventura in the gubnorial race in Minnesota, White had trouble
convincing people he was for real. "They wouldn't let me in the debate
because I wasn't a recognized party," he said.
Sailor White finished in fifth place, about 900 votes behind the fourth
place finisher Frank Hall from the newly-created Canadian Alliance Party. He was
happy with the results. "I was tickled to death. I was the only one out
of all the politicians, the only one to go over to my opponent, the
winner, Loyola Hearn, and shake his hand, and go to the new Alliance and
his hand as well. I was the only one out of all of them that done that."
