Pressed on marijuana reform, Tom Mulcair signals NDP is warm to Liberal plans for legalization
Throughout Thomas Mulcair’s campaign for prime minister, some supporters have repeatedly accused the NDP leader of letting the Liberal Party’s Justin Trudeau outflank the NDP on the left.
One of the reasons why is marijuana. While the NDP has long favoured decriminalizing the drug, the Liberals have promised to legalize pot, which advocates for marijuana reform argue is the more progressive of the two policies.
(For a detailed analysis of how the two differ, read the Straight’s recent three-part series, “Ahead of Canada's 2015 election, marijuana advocates scrutinize competing plans for reform”.)
Decriminalization might still be the official NDP party line. But just four days ahead of the October 19 election, it sounds like Mulcair is warming to the idea of full regulation, as he told Vice Canada correspondent Damian Abraham in a October 13 live interview.
“Why are you not in favour of legalization of marijuana?” Abraham asked.
Mulcair didn’t say that he was opposed to legalization, but rather that he favoured decriminalization because it is a simpler policy that could be implemented “overnight”.
Abraham emphasized that decriminalization only addresses the demand side of marijuana—that is, the consumer—while leaving people on the supply side—the dealers—still subject to arrest and incarceration.
Mulcair’s response: “Well, I think that that is a much more complex question,” he said. “But it’s going to get done. That’s the direction that it’s going in. Look at Oregon, look at Colorado. We’re getting more and more information. That’s the type of thing that will be the way for the future. But I am going to start by immediately doing something that I know I can and will do overnight, which is to make sure that nobody ever has to face a charge for personal use or possession of marijuana. And of course, we are on a track to full legalization. But it is more complicated than snapping your fingers.”
That answer goes a step beyond the response Mulcair gave on August 20 when the Straight asked him the same question during a campaign stop in Vancouver.
“The NDP has had the same position for about 40 years,” Mulcair said then. “Decriminalizing marijuana is the position of the NDP, it is my position, and it is something that we can do immediately. Mr. [Stephen] Harper’s plan has failed so we’ve got to start doing things differently. I am categorical that no person should ever face criminal charges or a criminal record for personal use of marijuana. That has always been my position.”
Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper also took a number of questions about marijuana this week.
For anybody who is still confused about marijuana reform ahead of this October's federal election, the Straight recently published a three-part series exploring the differences between the NDP and Liberal positions on the issue. If that sounds like too many words, we also have a summary of those articles: "Smoking out Canadian political parties' plans for marijuana reform: an election 2015 explainer".
Series: Marijuana reform in Canada's 2015 federal election
Comments