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Party plays on Labrador identity 
What the Labrador Party lacks in numbers, it makes up for in enthusiasm and drive. The small group received official party status after collecting more than 1,000 signatures this spring. The movement is the revival of a party that was born in the early 1970s. Tom Burgess won a seat in 1971 and Mike Martin won a byelection the next year before the New Labrador Party died out. Now, three decades later, the party is running four candidates in the provincial election. Party president Ern Condon is one of them. The Labrador West candidate says little has changed since the party was first formed out of a feeling or being ignored by the island portion of the province. "We've tried Liberal governments, we've tried PC governments (and) we've had no fundamental change," Condon says. "We're still light years behind in terms of provincial and national standards in many things. It will continue for another 54 years if we put up and shut up, lie down and let people walk over us."
The rebirth of the party began after the release of the report of royal commission on renewing the province's place in Canada. The report talked about a feeling of alienation in Labrador.
Brandon Pardy, the party's candidate in Lake Melville, says he feels that alienation daily on the campaign trail. "People are quite open to hear what we have to say and they're very interested in what... the party has to say because we're so new," Pardy says. "They have a lot of questions. I don't think people are quite happy with current setup, and we're a viable option."
Still, it took the party until the second week of the campaign to get candidates in place on the south and north coasts. Makkovik resident John Andersen says the revival of the party isn't making much of a stir along that coast. "I haven't heard anything. I don't even know who's running for the Labrador Party here in Torngat district," he says. Lucy Juraruse is running in Torngat Mountains, and Frank Pye is the party's candidate in Cartwright-L'Anse aux Clair. Political watchers say it's too early to predict whether the party will win over voters.
Pardy says he, for one, won't be measuring his success by the number of votes he gets. Rather, he's happy to just push the party's policies, speak up for Labrador and increase the level of debate. "Winning the seat will be the ultimate success, but there's varying levels of success," he says.
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