Pubdate: Thu, 15 Oct 2015
Source: Revelstoke Times Review (CN BC)
Copyright: 2015 Black Press
Contact: http://mapinc.org/url/GUUzNSgH
Website: http://drugsense.org/url/ujMTHNZu
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2139

Election 2015: QUESTIONING THE CANDIDATES

Welcome to the Review's coverage of the 2015 election. We joined up 
with our colleagues at seven other newspapers in the 
Kootenay-Columbia to come up with 12 questions for the 
candidates.Each week leading up to the Oct. 19 election, we will 
publish the candidates' responses to two questions. We hope their 
responses help you decide who to vote for.

11. What's your position on the legalization/ decriminalization of marijuana?

12. If you were being to forced to vote along party lines for/against 
a bill you strongly opposed/supported because of what you believed to 
be best for your constituents, what would you do?

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DON JOHNSTON

Liberal Party

11. The Liberal Party will legalize marijuana if elected. The current 
system has proven to be a complete disaster and a recent World Health 
Organization survey of developed countries found that Canada has the 
highest number of teenage users.

Clearly prohibition is failing to protect children and it also 
continues to support the gang culture that controls marijuana. In 
jurisdictions that have legalized marijuana we have seen drops in 
petty crimes, no increase in the numbers of people using marijuana 
and huge income from taxes.

We need to legalize, research and educate so individuals are making 
well informed decisions. We will use the best practices of places who 
have already taken this step and move slowly to ensure an effective 
implementation of the distribution and control regime.

12. The biggest challenge currently for MPs comes from the use of 
omnibus bills forcing MPs to support them because they are part of 
the budget. We will discontinue this practice and the only votes the 
Liberal party would ask MPs to support will be budget bills, platform 
issues where we have promised we would undertake certain actions if 
elected, and any motions that directly conflict with the Charter of 
Rights and Freedoms.

Outside of these specific issues we will have freedom to vote in a 
manner that supports the aspirations of our constituents. If, 
somehow, an issue came up outside these particular expectations that 
the party decided to for whatever reason to try to whip the vote and 
I believed it to be in contravention of my personal convictions and 
what was best for my constituents I would not hesitate to vote 
against the party.

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DAVID WILKS

Conservative Party

11. I am not in support of legalization of marijuana but do fully 
support the motion put forth by the Canadian Chiefs of Police that 
calls for a ticketable offence for those found in possession of small 
amounts of marijuana (one to 30 g). The Liberal Party plan is 
reckless and is a knee-jerk reaction to a serious problem in which 
they believe that if you tax marijuana all the problems will go away.

12. There are a number of different bills in parliament. Budget bills 
are votes of confidence and in those cases I would always vote with 
the party. The Conservative Party has the best record for allowing 
their members of parliament to vote freely on bills of non-confidence 
and I have exercised that right on a number of occasions. The NDP has 
the worst record of allowing their members to vote freely.

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BILL GREEN

Green Party

11. I fully support the Green Party policy with respect to 
marijuana/cannabis for both medicinal and recreational use which is: 
legalize, research, educate.

Legalize so that the link between the production and sale of cannabis 
and drug gangs is severed. Research to carefully determine the full 
range of health/medicinal benefits and health risks.

Where scientific studies demonstrate health benefits and appropriate 
modes of use and dosages, medical marijuana should be brought fully 
within our regulated drug and medical system so that people needing 
cannabis treatment can obtain prescriptions from their family doctors 
and purchase treatments at their local drug store.

The Green Party national Pharmacare plan will then kick in so that 
cost is not a barrier to anyone needing therapeutic marijuana.

Physicians then need to be educated on the medicinal values of 
marijuana and all Canadians should be informed of the results of 
ongoing research about the health benefits and risks of various modes 
of cannabis use.

Decriminalization for possession is simply not good enough, as sale 
(trafficking) would remain a criminal offence and continue to 
associate access to marijuana with criminal gangs.

12. For a Green Party MP, this is not an issue. I would not be forced 
to vote along party lines. However, I would take the matter very 
seriously. The first question I would consider is what commitments 
I'd made to constituents, either during the election period or after. 
My vote would be based on any commitments I had made.

If I hadn't made a commitment, I would then want to make sure that I 
had a good understanding of the interests of my constituents, through 
Internet polling, community meetings and conversations with local 
governments and organizations. Green MP Bruce Hyer was forced to 
leave the NDP after he voted against the long gun registry.

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WAYNE STETSKI

New Democratic Party

11. An NDP government will decriminalize recreational use of 
marijuana. Our citizens should not be imprisoned for simple possession.

The NDP has held this position for about 40 years, and it is 
something the NDP has committed to taking action on immediately.

Medical marijuana, as already determined by the Supreme Court of 
Canada, should be available in a variety of forms. Smoking is a 
health hazard regardless of what you are smoking.

12. I believe strongly that a member of parliament's role is first 
and foremost to represent the best interests of his or her 
constituents. And I understand that no matter what, my job will be to 
provide service and representation to all residents, regardless of 
what party they may support, or whom they voted for during the election.

Mr. Wilks declared in 2012 in Revelstoke that one MP cannot make a 
difference. He made this statement to a group of constituents who 
raised serious concerns about an omnibus bill that they felt would 
seriously damage our country. And Mr. Wilks agreed with them, until 
the party reminded him that his responsibility was not to have honest 
conversations with constituents, but simply to vote the party line.

I do not accept this. I believe that our democracy is too important, 
and our country is too valuable, to choose a candidate who readily 
admits that he does not have free will, that he will not vote in the 
best interest of his constituents.

A classic example of Mr. Wilks voting against the safety and security 
of his constituents was his support for Bill C-51, the Secret Police 
Bill. Mr. Wilks knows that the majority of his constituents adamantly 
opposed Bill C- 51, but he voted for it anyway. That, in my mind, is 
absolutely unacceptable.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom