aiden wiechula was born on november 10, 1985, in halifax, nova scotia, and lived in waterloo, ontario; saudi arabia; and vancouver island, british columbia, before moving to peterborough to attend trent university. he was a member of the new democratic party before joining the marijuana party and was a twenty-year-old history student at the time of the 2006 election. when he declared his candidacy, he was quoted as saying, "the cannabis issue is a great example of everything the government has mishandled and done wrong. it [voting for the marijuana party] is a great protest vote against bigger party mentality."