Pubdate: Sat, 24 Aug 2013
Source: Record, The (Kitchener, CN ON)
Copyright: 2013 Metroland Media Group Ltd.
Contact:  http://www.therecord.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/225
Author: Steve Rennie
Page: A4

TRUDEAU'S ADMISSION SPARKS POT DEBATE

His Credibility 'Up in Smoke,' Mackay Says

OTTAWA - Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau's marijuana mea culpa has 
sparked some serious reefer madness on Parliament Hill.

Trudeau's confession that he smoked a joint after becoming an MP has 
put the pot-smoking predilections of politicians - if any - under the 
microscope.

It now seems every parliamentarian is being asked if they've ever 
fired up a fattie.

For the record, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird says he has 
stayed away from the drug after seeing a U.S. Supreme Court nominee 
withdraw after it emerged he smoked marijuana in college.

"I came of age politically in the 1980s and I can recall when one of 
President (Ronald) Reagan's nominees for the U.S. Supreme Court had 
to withdraw because of his use of that substance, so I took my 
example from that," Baird said.

The question also came up at a news conference with Employment 
Minister Jason Kenney and Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander.

Kenney says he has never smoked a joint - although he did admit to 
drinking coffee, a jab at the java-averse Trudeau.

"I'll let Mr. Trudeau's comments and actions speak for themselves," 
he said, parroting Prime Minister Stephen Harper's response a day 
earlier. "All I can say is, I would like to make a public confession 
that I do drink coffee."

Alexander chimed in, saying he, too, drinks coffee.

Justice Minister Peter MacKay also got in on the pot pile-on, saying 
most Canadians expect their elected representatives to stick to the 
straight and narrow.

"It's currently against the law to smoke dope. I think most Canadians 
expect that their member of Parliament will obey the law," MacKay 
said Friday in Halifax.

"But this admission of smoking marijuana, breaking the law, doing so 
knowingly while he was a member of Parliament - the politics of this 
are such that there's an element of hypocrisy of having voted on the 
record to increase penalties around the same time that he was 
lighting up. So his credibility is a little up in smoke."

Trudeau, who was elected to Parliament in 2008, voted a year later 
for mandatory minimum sentences for pot production.

Not everyone was such a buzzkill, though. In an interview with Global 
TV's The Morning Show, actor George Takei praised Trudeau's candour.

"It's going to be a great positive for him," said Takei, who played 
Mr. Sulu on the original Star Trek series. "It serves Canada well to 
have a politician who can be known for his honesty and forthrightness."

One of Trudeau's caucus colleagues also came to his defence.

"People admire Justin's candour and his common sense," Liberal MP 
Scott Brison said in an interview. "I've also had comments from 
people that find people like Stephen Harper and Peter MacKay 
hopelessly out of touch with near-toxic levels of sanctimony and more 
interested in attacking someone's character than actually listening to reason."

He said no one has questioned Trudeau's judgment in toking while an MP.

"No, I have not heard that at all from anybody," he said, dismissing 
Tory attempts to persuade Canadians that Trudeau is unfit to govern.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom