Pubdate: Thu, 15 Jan 2015
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: 2015 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477
Author: Peter O'Neil
Page: A5

MARIJUANA ACTIVIST QUESTIONS LIBERALS' OPENNESS

Internal party poll shows Jodie Emery unlikely to win Vancouver East
riding

OTTAWA - Marijuana legalization activist Jodie Emery, a candidate for
the Liberal nomination in the suddenly competitive Vancouver East
riding, is raising questions about her leader's honesty in committing
to a wide-open nomination process across Canada.

The provocative comments this week from Emery, wife of so-called
"Prince of Pot" Marc Emery, coincide with the release of internal
Liberal polling results saying that the party has a shot at winning
the Vancouver East riding now that NDP potentate Libby Davies is retiring.

But that's only if Emery is not the candidate, according to polling
data obtained by The Vancouver Sun.

Emery suggested in a wide-ranging, and often disjointed, interview
that Trudeau and his top aides are nervous about her political ambitions.

Emery's candidacy still must be approved by the Liberal "Green Light
Committee," which has considerable latitude under party rules to deny
some Canadians the opportunity to run for a nomination.

She said she respects the party's desire to make sure the best
candidates run, and said she and her controversial husband, who last
year completed a jail sentence in the U.S. on drug charges, will be
loyal Liberal supporters even if she doesn't take the nomination.

But then she pointed to recent media reports indicating that the
Liberals, in some ridings, are actively discouraging some candidates
in order to clear the way for so-called "stars."

That, she suggested, would be a violation of Trudeau's 2012 leadership
campaign vow to hold only open nominations.

"I'm known for only speaking the truth, and anyone paying attention to
the news can see that in some ridings the Liberal party seems to have
preferred candidates," she said.

"I can see why they're nervous and trying to control the campaign from
top to bottom.

"I just wish that Trudeau would stop saying they're committed to open
nominations in every riding, because again if you're about truth, then
that's clearly not true."

Party spokesman Olivier Duchesneau said a party vetting process that
blocks some candidates for specific reasons set out in party rules
does not mean the nomination process isn't open.

"Open nominations does not mean that anyone can have their name on the
ballot at the nomination meeting," he said, adding that Canadians
expect parties to do their "due diligence" on prospective candidates.

"We have always said that candidates need to follow a rigorous process
and that they need approval from the Green Light Committee to go forward."

It's not the first time an Emery has challenged Trudeau's
truthfulness. In 2013, Marc Emery challenged, in a blog post,
Trudeau's assertion that the two men never got high together in a
Vancouver restaurant in 2003.

Like her husband, who in December disparaged Jodie Emery's three
Liberal rivals for the nomination as "political dilettantes," she also
made critical comments about lawyer Edward Wong, former RCMP officer
Richard Jaques, and wealthy philanthropist Joanne Griffiths, ex-wife
of former Canucks owner Arthur Griffiths.

"When I review those sort of records compared to mine, with respect to
political comments and involvement in issues relative to the riding,
it seems I've been at it a little longer than they have," she said.

"But to be fair, Joanne Griffiths (is) connected and moneyed, and
that's what the Liberals want. And insiders of the party will
certainly get preference."

Emery's criticism of the party and leader she supports - extremely
rare in Canadian politics for people seeking the party's blessing to
run - adds more weight to those Liberals who believe her candidacy
will likely be blocked.

That sentiment would be strengthened if an internal Liberal party
poll, obtained Wednesday by The Vancouver Sun, is taken seriously.

The mid-December poll of 503 Vancouver East residents said the NDP,
which won the seat under Davies with a record-smashing 63 per cent of
the vote in 2011, had the support of just 34 per cent of decided
respondents.

The Liberals, who have won the riding twice since the 1930s, were
within spitting distance at 27 per cent, while the Conservatives were
at 23 per cent and the Greens 16 per cent.

But when respondents were asked about a specific scenario in which
either New Democrat MLA Jenny Kwan or former Vancouver school trustee
Sharon Gregson were running against Emery, the NDP jumped to 42 per
cent while the Liberal backing dropped to 20 per cent - two percentage
points below the Conservatives in one of Canada's most left-wing ridings.

The poll, only parts of which were obtained by The Sun, is accurate to
within 4.4 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
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MAP posted-by: Matt