Pubdate: Thu, 03 Apr 2014
Source: Whitby This Week (CN ON)
Copyright: 2014 Metroland Media Group
Contact:  http://www.durhamregion.com/whitby-on/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3823
Note: Please specify Whitby This Week as source in LTE
Author: Reka Szekely

LIBERAL LEADER TALKS PICKERING AIRPORT, MARIJUANA DURING AJAX VISIT

Justin Trudeau Makes The Case For Legalizing Marijuana

AJAX -- Liberal leader Justin Trudeau spent the afternoon in Ajax on
Monday taking questions from residents and drumming up support for his
party and his 2015 bid for the Prime Minister's job.

The Liberal leader spoke at a luncheon event organized by the
Ajax-Pickering Board of Trade at the Ajax Convention Centre on Beck
Crescent.

Mr. Trudeau took questions from the audience and while they covered a
range of topics, including his views on education and economic issues,
two of the questions dealt with the future of the federally owned
Pickering airport lands.

The Liberal leader did not take a position on whether an airport
should be built.

"I am not in a position to say whether or not I think the airport
should go forward," he said. "I'm very much in the position to say the
federal government needs to be active in establishing a plan, in
creating a framework for the kinds of consultations and business plans
and growth strategies that would surround such a significantly
important infrastructure investment."

Mr. Trudeau said he believed in "social licence" for major
infrastructure projects meaning that the public should be part of
determining whether a project should go forward and how.

Pressed on the issue in an interview following his speech, Mr. Trudeau
said there needs to be a strategic plan that factors in the business
advantages of an airport, the impact on the population, the impact it
will have on transportation and infrastructure and where air travel is
headed in the 21st century.

"What is the big picture within which this will fit and then residents
will be better able to see if it's something that's worthwhile,
something that's going to be beneficial to the region as many
proponents say it will," he said.

On the marijuana issue, Mr. Trudeau has been attacked in ads for his
support of legalizing the drug.

Mr. Trudeau said Canada has the highest rate of teen marijuana use
among 29 developed countries and said it's easier for kids to access
marijuana than in other countries.

"It's certainly easier for them to buy a joint than it is for them to
buy a beer or in many cases a cigarette," he said. "So, our system is
broken and what I've said is we need to regulate and control marijuana
by legalizing it to keep it out of the hands of drug dealers, out of
the hands of kids by requiring people to show ID in a controlled
fashion before they can buy it."

He said another advantage of legalization is that it removes a
significant revenue stream from organized crime and gangs.

During the last federal election, the Liberals lost their foothold in
Durham Region when Dan McTeague and Mark Holland were defeated in
Pickering-Scarborough East and the Ajax-Pickering ridings
respectively.

Looking towards 2015, Mr. Trudeau said he's been promoting a positive
vision for Canada.

"I've been crisscrossing this country talking to people in areas that
used to be Liberal and in areas that have never been Liberal and
talking about the kind of future we need to build together and that
relationship of trust and service that I think needs to characterize
the federal government and I think it's something people across the
country are hunkering for."

Following his speech, Mr. Trudeau was asked by the national media
about his use of the f-word at a charity boxing tournament last weekend.

"I guess I let my emotions run a little hot, but rest assured I got a
talking-to at home from Sophie," he said referring to his wife Sophie
Gregoire.

Mr. Trudeau also visited the General Motors engineering centre in
Oshawa on his visit to Durham.
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D