The Harper Conservatives must be chortling as they think of the coming federal election campaign being fought over legalizing marijuana. There are far more important issues but this issue makes a clear statement on the difference between the Harper Conservatives and the Trudeau Liberals.
This can become the litmus test of being Canadian. It is about how we define ourselves and how we want the rest of the world to see us. We can continue with the repression and ignorance of the Conservatives or we can return to the openness and fairness for which Canada was previously known. This is an issue in which everyone will want to have a say. It could encourage the highest election turn-out in Canada’s history as a democracy.
The Conservatives want to build prisons and fill them. They want to impose stiffer sentences on lawbreakers. They want more punishment and more vengeance. They are proud of being vindictive. That is their approach and they are welcome to it.
Liberals are less likely to give up so easily on their fellows. They prefer punishment that fits the crime and the criminal. They disagree with cookie-cutter criminality. Every person is different. Judges are there to recognize the differences and to mete out the proper penance. It is like the priest handing out the Hail Mary’s in the confessional, he knows what the worshiper’s knees can handle.
And as much as the picture will be painted by Conservative advertising, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau is not suggesting selling pot through every convenience store. Like cigarettes and liquor, cannabis has to be controlled. If you drive down the highway smoking a joint, you might deserve a night in the cooler to think about it. There is little difference from driving with an open bottle of beer in your hand. So get those images of perpetual pot parties in every park out of your mind.
And you should also forget the “tsk-tsks” from the Americans. They have their own arguments about pot. America is a much more repressive society than Canada. Only the Harper Conservatives want to be just like them.
The only person who has, so far, tried to stay on the fence on this issue is New Democrat Leader Thomas Mulcair. While declaring last April that he does not want someone to go to jail for possession of a couple joints, he has denied an interest in legalization. If he tries to stick to that stance into a general election, he would be lucky to keep his own seat in Quebec. He would be the big loser.
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Copyright 2013 © Peter Lowry
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