MarijuanaNews.com : New Canadian Federal Marijuana Party to Challenge New Canadian Conservative Leader in By-Election.

Posted July 27, 2000
(MarijuanaNews note: Canada has two new national political parties,
The Marijuana Party and the Canadian Alliance.

The Marijuana Party is a national party that grew out of Quebec’s Bloc
Pot.
See http://marijuanaparty.com

This is no joke. It will be on the ballot in probably 100 ridings, Canadian parliamentary
districts, and will have the right to be on all of the candidate forums.

The Marijuana Party has only two planks, the legalization of marijuana — and
proportional representation. If it wins – not very likely — it has pledged to resign
and call new elections after fulfilling its limited mandate. In this way, it can field
candidates whose other political views range from libertarian to socialist, and everything
in between.

Obviously, they don’t really expect to win, but they will be in a position
to keep the issue of marijuana prohibition on the national agenda, and by being on the
same platforms with the major party candidates, the Marijuana Party will be able to shame
the others into explaining why they are ignoring the will of the Canadian people.
See

href=”http://www.marijuananews.com/marijuananews/cowan/78_percent_of_canadians_favor_me.htm”>78
Percent Of Canadians Favor Medical Marijuana – What Is Rock Waiting On? DEAland?

The Canadian Alliance is a new conservative party that grew out of the
disintegration of the old Progressive Conservative [Tory] Party. Its new leader, Stockwell
Day, is a “social conservative,” who says that marijuana users “should not
go to jail.” However, he says he is opposed to legalizing marijuana because that
might lead to the legalization of hard drugs. Sort of a political Gateway Theory?

Under the Canadian system, a candidate can choose to run anywhere in the
country, so Stockwell Day, who wants to be in the national parliament before the next
national elections, is running in British Columbia, even though he is from neighboring
Alberta. He is running in a “safe” riding, and will probably not be opposed by
the national Progressive Conservatives or the Liberals, the ruling party in the present
government.

This campaign presented the Marijuana Party with an irresistible opportunity.
They will run against him. It is very unlikely that the Marijuana Party will win, but as
this article demonstrates, it is certain to get lots of publicity for the issue.

Remember, most of the Canadian media are anti-prohibitionist so – unlike
DEAland – they will not ignore the Marijuana Party.)
From Hour
http://www.afterhour.com
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
letters@afterhour.com
http://www.afterhour.com/columns/c_forum.asp
By Charlie McKenzie
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES

Canada’s Marijuana Party will take on Canadian alliance leader Stockwell Day in
federal by-election

Watch out Stockwell Day!

Ontario Provincial Police have in their possession, a recent photograph of the Canadian
Alliance leader and what appears to be a marijuana joint. The photo will be “Exhibit
A” when Bloc Pot head and Interim-leader of the fledgling federal Marijuana Party,
Marc-Boris St-Maurice, and a colleague, face marijuana possession charges in an Ontario
court later this year.

If St-Maurice has his way, it’ll be in the court of public opinion long before.

“I’m just waiting for Jean Chretien to drop the writ and call a by-election[this
summer],” he said confidently, “then I’m off to Okanagan-Coquihalla [in British
Columbia] to go mano a mano with Stockwell Day.”

“We’re putting marijuana on top of the agenda and I’m itching for a debate.”

The Okanogan-Coquihalla by-election will be the first federal test of both leaders, both
of whom sprang from provincial politics; Day, as Finance Minister to Ralph Klein’s Alberta
Conservatives, and St-Maurice, founder and leader of Quebec’s Bloc Pot which garnered over
10,000 votes in the last provincial election.

Okanagan-Coquihalla is said to be a right-wing stronghold and likely shoe-in for the
Canadian Alliance. The same terrain, however, also hosts some of
BC’s best marijuana growing country where the herb represents more than a significant
slice of the local economy.
See

href=”http://www.marijuananews.com/news.php3?sid=210″>Poll Shows B.C. Residents Reject
DEAland Pressure To Increase Penalties on Marijuana Growing.

Stockwell Day’s “law ‘n order” bent versus St-Maurice’s “take no more
prisoners” attitude could make for an interesting and colourful debut for both
leaders.

“We have to put marijuana at the top of the national agenda,” affirms
St-Maurice.

“Canada is the key to ending prohibition -our advancements in
dealing with medical marijuana and steady progress through the courts for recreational
users make this the most likely country to lead the way on global marijuana reform.”
See

href=”http://www.marijuananews.com/news.php3?sid=223″>British Columbia Court Rules Two to
One That Marijuana Possession Laws Must Be Decided By Parliament. Dissent Makes Hearing By
Supreme Court Likely. Facts Make Marijuana Prohibition Look Bad, Again.
and

href=”http://www.marijuananews.com/news.php3?sid=260″>Canadian Court Rules For
Breathalyzer Tests for Alcohol – Against Urine Testing for Marijuana.

As for the controversial Day photo, which led to a police search and subsequent charges
against he and Bloc Pot colleague, Hugo St-Onge, St-Maurice insists it was all a joke.
They had been invited to a benefit festival near Sault Ste-Marie for a medical marijuana
defence fund administered by Osgoode Hall law professor and noted pot crusader, Allen
Young.
See
Two Leading Canadian
Anti-Prohibitionists Quoted
As Their Papers Actually Report On Canada’s Marijuana Arrest Statistics.
2 Amazing Articles
and
Canadian
Activists to Force the Medical Cannabis Issue by Openly Supplying Patients — Bravo

“After twelve hours on these roads,” St-Maurice explained via cellphone from
somewhere outside of Sault-Ste-Marie, “you need a little humour. [so] We stuck
Stock’s photo on the dashboard - sort of a ‘Zen-focus on your adversary-thing’ along with
a rolled cigarette made-up to look like a joint. It’s just tobacco -we weren’t wasting a
good joint.”

At a police roadblock outside the festival entrance, St-Maurice was asked if he had any
narcotics. “I don’t think I have to answer that,” he replied.

The cop was not amused. He promptly seized Stockwell Day’s photo and the ersatz-joint as
“probable grounds for a search of their vehicle and person” which eventually
yielded less than an ounce of marijuana.

This was not St-Maurice’s first run-in with Ontario Provincial Police. While recruiting
candidates and campaigning for The Marijuana Party, he has had a number of police
encounters, most notably in the past two months.

The first occurred near Kirkland Lake, Ontario, when police pulled
St-Maurice over for a speeding violation. The cop couldn’t help but notice that
St-Maurice’s car was covered with pro-marijuana stickers. He asked permission to search
the car, which St-Maurice refused. The cop then threatened that if he wouldn’t comply, he
would be stopped every 100 hundred miles throughout Ontario.

St-Maurice stood his ground, and so did the cop. Over the next 48-hours, Ontario
Provincial Police stopped and hassled him on four different occasions. It was so
stressful, he has filed a formal complaint with the Ontario Police Commission.

“I demand an apology. Someone has to let the police know they can’t get away with
hassling people on suspicion of marijuana,” he said. “I was hurt and stressed
-I’m only 31 and I’ve never had a heart attack, but they gave me some idea what it might
feel like.”

St-Maurice also faces marijuana possession charges stemming from a police raid on
Montreal’s compassion club last February and openly wonders why his political adversary
-who acknowledges past marijuana use - didn’t receive similar attention.
See

href=”http://www.marijuananews.com/news.php3?sid=89″>Montreal Police Arrest Operators of
City’s Compassion Club; Health Minister “wouldn’t comment on the arrests.”

“So far as I’m concerned,” says St-Maurice, “Stockwell Day confessed to a
criminal act, that makes him a criminal. I’ve only been accused of alleged crimes.”

St-Maurice wisely side steps other contentious issues which have marked Day’s appearance
on the federal scene. Gay rights, abortion, and flat-taxes hold no immediate interest.

“We’re a one issue party,” he said, “and make no apologies for it. We’re
here to discuss and debate marijuana -c’est tout.”

He’s anxious to face Day on the hustings.

“I have serious reservations about his citizen-initiative program,” St-Maurice
says of Day’s plan to hold issue-oriented referendums. “It’s been tried in the States
with mixed results; California’s medical marijuana legislation is a case in point where
the federal government refuses to acknowledge the will of the people.”

“Still,” he adds, “If Stockwell Day wants citizens’ initiatives here in
Canada, I think that we in the marijuana lobby have a duty to accommodate him.”

St-Maurice and St-Onge have a September 11 court date in Sault-Ste-Marie where the OPP
must produce Stockwell Day’s photograph as evidence of a crime.

Be sure and log on to www.pot-tv.net for
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