GAYS, POTHEADS OFF AGENDA

The UA Has Said No To Potheads And To Gays And Lesbians.

Delegates attending the movement's founding convention tore up a family values resolution that would have allowed a free vote in the Commons to extend benefits to gay and lesbian couples.

They were just as quick to burn a resolution that called for the decriminalization of small amounts of marijuana -- a move sought by police chiefs across the country.

As for extending benefits, Reform MPs downplayed suggestions the UA has shot itself in the foot and will hurt its chances of attracting key support in Ontario.

INTOLERANT PERCEPTION

Many feel one of the reasons Reform can't crack the Ontario-Manitoba border is its perceived intolerance to same-sex relationships.

Critics have suggested this weekend's stage-managed convention is nothing more than a vehicle for Preston Manning and his key advisers to shed Reform's extremist image to placate Ontario.

Reform MP Keith Martin urged delegates the perception could follow them into the UA.

"I don't think they are trying to be exclusionary," a guarded Martin said after the vote.

Martin pointed to a previous UA gathering last January when Alberta Premier Ralph Klein urged delegates to focus on the big issues like health and steer away from social conservative value issues.