Stephen Harper loses again in the Supreme Court of Canada, this time over medical marijuana

    1 of 1 2 of 1

      Today's ruling on medical cannabis extracts is only the latest in a long series of Conservative government drubbings in the Supreme Court of Canada.

      The highest court determined that the federal ban on non-dried marijuana extracts for medical use is unconstitutional.

      Similarly, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in February that the federal ban on assisted suicide was unconstitutional.

      The Conservative government also lost in December 2013 in a landmark case involving three prostitution laws.

      And when Prime Minister Stephen Harper tried to appoint a Federal Court of Canada judge to fill a Quebec seat on the Supreme Court of Canada, this too was deemed unconstitutional.

      Harper had a hissy fit after that one.

      Then there was the prime minister's attempt at Senate reform without consultation with the provinces—another loss.

      Harper was also blocked by the Supreme Court of Canada in his attempt to shut down Insite, which is the only legal supervised-injection site in the country.

      In addition, the highest court ruled against mandatory minimum sentences for gun-related crimes.

      That wasn't the only tough-on-crime law that failed to meet the constitutional smell test.

      Aspects of the Truth in Sentencing Act were also struck down. It set strict rules for judges around giving offenders credit for time served while awaiting trial.

      In another case, the court ruled that a Conservative government law taking away early parole from nonviolent, first-time offenders could not be imposed retroactively.

      Once in a while, the government wins, such as with its bill to destroy data from the long-gun registry.

      But more often, such as with the Tsilhqot'in First Nation's claim for aboriginal title, the federal government loses.

      It must be demoralizing for Department of Justice lawyers to so often end up on the wrong side of constitutional arguments.

      Health minister is outraged by Supreme Court of Canada

      Today's decision on cannabis makes a mockery of Health Minister Rona Ambrose's claim earlier this year that marijuana is not a medicine.

      The ruling came down just as Vancouver city council is holding a public hearing on proposed regulations for marijuana dispensaries, which Ambrose wants shut down.

      Ambrose says she's "outraged by the Supreme Court".

      For the sake of people with HIV, multiple sclerosis, Dravet's syndrome, posttraumatic stress disorder, and other serious medical conditions, let's hope that Edmonton voters do to Ambrose what they just did to Jim Prentice's Progressive Conservatives. 

      Ambrose is simply not qualified to be health minister, given her lack of understanding of the constitutional rights of patients.

      Is it any wonder that Vancouver physician and author Dr. Gabor Maté once referred to her as Canada's minister of disease?

      Comments

      40 Comments

      Wilf Burry

      Jun 11, 2015 at 10:17am

      Harper and Ambrosse hope that if they beat the horse long enough he will obey then, wishful thinking. why don't both go back to School and learn something.

      desi belliveau

      Jun 11, 2015 at 10:18am

      She is only saying what the PMO told to say

      Supreme Court challenges are all Harper does

      Jun 11, 2015 at 10:25am

      and all he has ever done. Nothing real or substantial about it. Goes back to when he wanted the Sikh's to lose their turbans in the early nineties, which did not go through, and we see an echo with the hijab today. Wasting money on more nonsense.

      In other scumsucking news, apparently he is going to try to outwit the Cdn voter one more time and call the election for August, when all of the working class people are relaxed on their little three week vacation, tired from a long year, and hot and lethargic in the summer.

      2015 election in August, NOT October you say? Yes!

      jim10

      Jun 11, 2015 at 11:22am

      Harper can loose in the court as many times as he want, any problems?

      Nearly Nicole

      Jun 11, 2015 at 11:26am

      The man is so rabidly against drugs of any kind that he cannot hear what people try to tell him about marijuana not belonging in the same category as the others. Worse, he's got a fundamentalist's attitude to sinners: we are dead to him. He doesn't CARE about the fact that Insite save lives because in his mind those people's lives are not worth saving!

      This man and those in the party who think like him are very dangerous, and our democracy could go the way of Italy or Germany in the 30s unless we use this final opportunity to get rid of him.

      Eck

      Jun 11, 2015 at 11:27am

      How about these questions when it comes to dispensaries ...

      Do you know where your pot comes from?

      Do you know what is actually In your pot?

      Do people think that these dispensaries operate on the up&up?

      Lori Batchelor

      Jun 11, 2015 at 11:54am

      The Conservatives resent natural remedies because they're not making the big bucks for their pharmaceutical sponsors. If it was a manufactured synthetic it would be different.

      Ken N

      Jun 11, 2015 at 12:28pm

      Harper has appointed seven of the nine sitting SCC justices. At what point does he stop complaining that rulings against him are caused by "liberal judges"?

      polly doodle all da day ha ha ha

      Jun 11, 2015 at 12:40pm

      Please wake up Canada we need a new Big Brother and that is NDP !! Screw Harper and Ambroise his number one bitch lap dog we are so DONE with these f'ups. They will suck and suck till the well is dry and move on and dig another hole...wake up people the PC are on a mission to destroy everything to make way for corporate total control and they sit as their middle men.

      dan garson

      Jun 11, 2015 at 2:02pm

      I agree with her about the ruling, if not the larger issue of marijuana legalization

      What the court is doing is beyond its powers, it does not have jurisdiction to rule on the effectiveness of medication. Marijuana is mediocre pain killer and appetite stimulant, nothing more and the court is fooling no one in what it is trying to do.