Pubdate: Sun, 06 Mar 2005
Source: Winnipeg Free Press (CN MB)
Copyright: 2005 Winnipeg Free Press
Contact:  http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/502
Author: Bruce Cheadle, Canadian Press
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?199 (Mandatory Minimum Sentencing)

POT DEBATE KEPT OFF CONVENTION FLOOR

Won't Become Official Liberal Policy

OTTAWA -- Liberals side-stepped an awkward marijuana showdown at their 
national convention yesterday while giving a slam-dunk endorsement of gay 
marriage and committing to reform the country's prostitution ban. An 
emotionally charged debate over federal marijuana laws, set against a 
backdrop of four dead Mounties, was contained within a raucous committee 
room and never made it to the party's main convention floor.

Almost 600 Liberal delegates at a justice workshop simultaneously endorsed 
resolutions that would see pot legalized, taxed and federally regulated -- 
while also voting to impose mandatory minimum sentences on convicted grow 
operators.

But neither resolution was debated by the full convention plenary, meaning 
neither will become official party policy this weekend.

The justice workshop, which voted down a motion on maintaining the 
traditional definition of marriage, ended up sending a resolution to the 
main convention floor seeking a review of Canada's solicitation laws.

Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan said legalizing pot and prostitution 
might have been expected from a justice forum heavily dotted with members 
of the Liberal youth wing.

"I would be amazed if young Liberals didn't come to a convention like this 
and push the envelope a little bit," McLellan told reporters after dust 
finally settled on the two-hour donnybrook. But what happens at convention 
doesn't tie the government's hand.

MP Dan McTeague called the social debates "bewildering and mind-boggling.

"There are opinions out there on the floor being passed that haven't been 
tested in main street," said the Toronto-area MP. "I don't think any of 
them are sellers on the doorstep.

"How would you be able to distinguish between Liberals and the NDP in the 
next election?"

The contentious pot debate was immediately framed in the tragedy of four 
RCMP officers gunned down Thursday during a raid on an Alberta farm that 
was found to contain a small grow operation.

"We knew that something drastic was going to happen and we just didn't know 
when," B.C. delegate Ginny Hasselfield said as she proposed the grow op 
sentencing resolution. Her assertion drew loud groans from the back of the 
packed room.

"Do we want a U.S. war-on-drugs approach to this problem? Or will we sit 
down and consider a Liberal solution?" responded one delegate to loud cheers.

The mandatory sentence resolution was adopted, nonetheless.

When it came time for the legalization debate, matters got more heated.

Garth Goodhew, a delegate from North Bay, Ont., listed international 
anti-drug efforts and health concerns for rejecting legalization, and 
warned that the resolution might be considered in bad taste.

"Four young Canadians were killed two days ago!" Goodhew shouted before 
being drowned out by a huge wave of jeers.

When another delegate cited tobacco smoking cancer deaths in his family, he 
was loudly advised to "Eat brownies!"

Several speakers in favour of legalization compared the current drug wars 
to the Prohibition era, when organized criminals fought police in the 
streets over the booze trade.
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MAP posted-by: Beth