Pubdate: Wed, 11 Dec 2013
Source: Powell River Peak (CN BC)
Copyright: 2013 Peak Publishing Ltd.
Contact:  http://www.prpeak.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/734
Author: Chris Bolster
Cited: Sensible BC: http://www.sensiblebc.ca

POT PETITION GOES UP IN SMOKE

Larsen Says Not Enough Signatures a Setback Not Defeat

Sensible BC's signature collecting campaign may have gone to pot, but 
organizers are not taking this as a defeat.

"This actually leaves the marijuana reform movement in British 
Columbia in a stronger place than before we started," said Sensible 
BC organizer Dana Larsen. "We're going to continue to work on this 
and you can be sure that we'll be back on another signature gathering effort."

Just over 200,000 signatures were delivered to Elections BC Monday, 
December 9, approximately 100,000 fewer than required to meet the 
standard set out in the Recall and Initiative Act.

Chief Electoral Officer Keith Archer said that the act requires the 
signature of at least 10 per cent of the registered voters in each of 
the province's 85 electoral districts.

"The proponent has not submitted sufficient signatures on the 
petition sheets, therefore our office has determined that this 
petition does not meet the requirements of the act and is 
unsuccessful," wrote Archer in a media release.

In many rural districts, the campaign's 4,460 canvassers were able to 
collect the required percentage of signatures. The required 3,782 
signatures for the Powell River-Sunshine Coast riding were collected 
by the end of November, said Larsen. Between Langdale and Egmont 
3,200 signatures were gathered with Powell River adding about 1,000 more.

Some districts were more of a challenge, said Lower Coast Sensible BC 
campaign organizer Paul Renaud. "The Lower Mainland, for example, 
generally is a real challenge just by the virtue of the number of 
people," he said. "In Surrey alone I guess there's in the 
neighbourhood of 300,000 voters which means 30,000 signatures are required."

Larsen said that as rural districts were completed, the focus shifted 
to collecting signatures in the province's urban neighbourhoods and 
conducted targeted phone campaigns.

"Some parts of the province have more support for this issue than 
others but there is a majority in British Columbia," said Larsen. 
"Logistically there are challenges with just having enough bodies out there."

Larsen said that one factor in the result was a slow beginning 
despite having tripled the number of canvassers from its September start.

"A lot of them came when we were already half-way through," he said. 
"If we had had more momentum at the beginning we would have been able 
to do better. It just took a while."

Despite not meeting the required number of signatures, the movement 
to decriminalize marijuana has been moved forward, said Larsen. 
"We've all learned a lot about how the process works and we're a lot 
stronger now than we were," he said. "Nothing is stopping us from 
doing this again and in fact I think we would do better each time around."

- - with files from Coast Reporter
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom