This weekend, the Vancouver Quadra NDP riding association nominated lawyer Kirk Tousaw as its candidate in the October 14 federal election.

Tousaw,  chair of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association's drug policy committee,  issued a news release today condemning his opponents (Conservative Deborah Meredith and Liberal MP Joyce Murray) for not taking a strong stand against the war in Afghanistan.

"We spend $8 on war efforts, disingeniously called 'counter-insurgency' by my opponents, for every $1 we spend helping the Afghan people rebuild their war-torn country," Tousaw said in the news release. "That's shameful."

Tousaw, a civil-liberties lawyer and former campaign manager for the B.C. Marijuana party, is the second federal NDP candidate nominated in the region with ties to the Prince of Pot, Marc Emery.

Dana Larsen, a senior manager of the Vancouver Seed Bank, is running for the NDP in West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country.