Any Canadian who actively supports marijuana legalization in Canada will of course be familiar with Stephen Harper's Bill C-15, in which he and his party have regrettably bunched marijuana in with many dangerous drugs in an act to counter production and sales of said drugs in Canada.
The bill is known for it's harsh standards and punishments regarding marijuana growers and users. It proposes large mandatory prison sentences to people caught growing more than one marijuana plant, and to those caught carrying marijuana in areas near schools or any other place where youth might frequent.(almost nothing is defined, so it could be effectively anywhere that doesn't bar people under 18 from entering.)
From the moment Stephen Harper was elected as Prime Minister, he has continually pushed this bill in multiple forms for the past 4 years, it has of course been met with very heavy criticism and was struck down multiple times in each attempt to pass it, yet each time it is struck down, he just reintroduces the same bill with some things changed around. It wasn't until about half a year ago that he had any success when one of his more heavily altered versions of C-15 was passed by the House of Commons and subjected to the Canadian Senate for approval.
Now about a month ago Stephen Harper prorogued parliament, and consequently killed his own Bill C-15. Though Harper has been under a lot of heavy fire for doing that, it has come as a delightful mini-victory for the pro-legalization effort, buying us more time to either counter the bill or possibly wait for Harper to leave as Prime Minister. But there are rumours out there, and they're probably true, I don't see why they wouldn't be. Stephen Harper plans on reintroducing the bill yet again as soon as he can.
What I'm asking now is if this is an ethical procedure he has been taking. The amount of successful opposition he has met coupled with countless delays, I would think the message is coming out pretty clear, "This bill is not going to work, it is not wanted, people hate it, just stop already", but he just keeps on ignoring this message and pressing the bill upon us. This almost seems to me as if he is attempting to undermine the public's influence on government processes. I've watched some of the committee hearings for this bill, and the government officials supporting this bill just come across as totally unprofessional and just plain fascist.( I don't usually like using that word, but it's just fitting in this case)
In one particular hearing I watched the Bloc Québécois withdrew it's support of the bill, and one party representitive(Liberal if I remember correctly) proceded to chew out the Bloc Québécois for this decision, bashing them for basically stepping aside and listening to what people had to say and acting on that. Attacking freedom of speech as well as beliefs on a government level, absolutely despicable.
What would your thoughts on this whole matter be?
The bill is known for it's harsh standards and punishments regarding marijuana growers and users. It proposes large mandatory prison sentences to people caught growing more than one marijuana plant, and to those caught carrying marijuana in areas near schools or any other place where youth might frequent.(almost nothing is defined, so it could be effectively anywhere that doesn't bar people under 18 from entering.)
From the moment Stephen Harper was elected as Prime Minister, he has continually pushed this bill in multiple forms for the past 4 years, it has of course been met with very heavy criticism and was struck down multiple times in each attempt to pass it, yet each time it is struck down, he just reintroduces the same bill with some things changed around. It wasn't until about half a year ago that he had any success when one of his more heavily altered versions of C-15 was passed by the House of Commons and subjected to the Canadian Senate for approval.
Now about a month ago Stephen Harper prorogued parliament, and consequently killed his own Bill C-15. Though Harper has been under a lot of heavy fire for doing that, it has come as a delightful mini-victory for the pro-legalization effort, buying us more time to either counter the bill or possibly wait for Harper to leave as Prime Minister. But there are rumours out there, and they're probably true, I don't see why they wouldn't be. Stephen Harper plans on reintroducing the bill yet again as soon as he can.
What I'm asking now is if this is an ethical procedure he has been taking. The amount of successful opposition he has met coupled with countless delays, I would think the message is coming out pretty clear, "This bill is not going to work, it is not wanted, people hate it, just stop already", but he just keeps on ignoring this message and pressing the bill upon us. This almost seems to me as if he is attempting to undermine the public's influence on government processes. I've watched some of the committee hearings for this bill, and the government officials supporting this bill just come across as totally unprofessional and just plain fascist.( I don't usually like using that word, but it's just fitting in this case)
In one particular hearing I watched the Bloc Québécois withdrew it's support of the bill, and one party representitive(Liberal if I remember correctly) proceded to chew out the Bloc Québécois for this decision, bashing them for basically stepping aside and listening to what people had to say and acting on that. Attacking freedom of speech as well as beliefs on a government level, absolutely despicable.
What would your thoughts on this whole matter be?
