Liberals send a message by refusing to allow Jodie Emery to seek nomination in Vancouver East

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      The news that came over Jodie Emery's Twitter feed was terse and direct.

      "At 3:58pm I received an email from the Liberal Green Light Committee informing me they are not recommending me to be a nomination candidate," she wrote.

      Emery, wife of marijuana-legalization crusader Marc Emery, had hoped to become the Liberal candidate in Vancouver East.

      She went through the usual bureaucracy that comes with seeking a nod from a federal party.

      Emery demonstrated that she doesn't have a criminal record. She certainly has a long history of involvement in community issues. But apparently, that didn't satisfy party apparatchiks.

      So her opportunity to seek a nomination was nixed.

      The news was leaked late on a Friday afternoon to minimize media coverage.

      Despite the lack of respect shown Emery, she will still support the Liberals in the next election because they're the only major party promising legalization of marijuana.

      Nevertheless, the Liberals will upset many Vancouverites with this decision, just as they did when a Liberal nomination race was short-circuited in Vancouver South. 

      That came when businessman Barj Dhahan stepped down as a potential candidate.

      Some of his supporters felt Dhahan was pushed to quit to clear the way for Harjit Sajjan, a former Vancouver police officer and retired military officer.

      Meanwhile, the NDP hasn't imposed restrictions on its nomination process in Vancouver East. Nor did the NDP rig the game in Vancouver Centre when members selected Constance Barnes in a contested nomination.

      In two Liberal nominations in the city, Vancouverites have gotten a glimpse into Leader Justin Trudeau's commitment to grassroots democracy. It doesn't appear to run very deep.

      That's a worrisome sign should he ever become prime minister. 

      Comments

      43 Comments

      Thbbbt

      Jan 17, 2015 at 1:26pm

      Jodie used to be a nice girl from the interior, then she fell in with a Fast Crowd, and now look at her, she's trying to involve herself in politics. Just Say "No", kids.

      P Kelly

      Jan 17, 2015 at 1:27pm

      Ouch. That's gonna leave a mark.

      jakeresides

      Jan 17, 2015 at 1:41pm

      I would have voted for her.

      Will

      Jan 17, 2015 at 2:08pm

      What's the message?
      That you have to be a member of the Liberal Party. That you have to have some credentials within the party. That you cannot be a single issue candidate. That you have to have some cred beyond a single issue in your community. That the Liberal Party is not about to take on token, or star candidates in ridings where they plan to fight legitimate opponents with serious street cred.
      I'm no Liberal supporter, and while I do support legalization and have for decades, I fully understand why Emery's gimmick candidacy was nixed.

      Mr.Soft

      Jan 17, 2015 at 2:30pm

      What did you expect from a worm like Justin Trudeau?

      No Gong Show

      Jan 17, 2015 at 2:34pm

      Well in fairness why would any Party want a One issue Gong Show distracting from the overall platform?

      Why give the Neo-Con Conmen more political ammo.

      Hopefully the next election removes the Con Bots from office if not a Minority Con Government would do.

      It would stop one sided Communist Trade Deals like the China Free Trade deal with gives the Communists NAFTA like powers on steroids over ANY Canadian Resources.
      “Instead of admitting their mistake and getting a deal that actually benefits Canadian companies, the Conservatives have locked Canada into a badly one-sided agreement for the next three decades,” said trade critic Don Davies.

      “In effect, it will give China access to, and control over, some of Canada’s natural resources for the next 31 years and subject Canadian taxpayers to enormous liabilities through investor lawsuits.” - NDP Statement on FIPA.

      Instead of focusing on issues that effect generations of Canadians and this nomination would have been about one issue and a distraction.

      Nicholas Ellan

      Jan 17, 2015 at 4:21pm

      Both the NDP and Liberals support decriminalization of marijuana. The Liberals go a step further by proposing a federal regulation regime. They want marijuana to be like alcohol or cigarettes. They want to control its production, distribution, and sale. They want to ban public consumption of it. They'll ban smoking week on parks, beaches, anywhere other than home or at the bar.

      The NDP will simply decriminalize it, and study future models. Vancouver has a good model right now, which deserves to be studied. Trudeau wants to crush Vancouver's nascent marijuana small businesses, and replace them with public-private partnerships run by Kash Heed and Mike Harcourt.

      Why does Emery support that?

      Liberals = Cons

      Jan 17, 2015 at 4:46pm

      Justin " mini Harper " Trudeau and the Harper Con , no real diff , same song different riff , they both are corporate stooges be it Bay street or Tarsand boulevard .

      HellSlayerAndy

      Jan 17, 2015 at 5:12pm

      Chuck nails another one!

      Yer right....complete disaster for the only party that is actually endorsing the legalization of marijuana.

      Damn that Justin...I'm going for the Quebec lawyer trade union party and their tough stand on decriminalization because damn it I care more about the Emerys and their political opportunities than I do...legalizing marijuana?

      I read your stuff now for the same reason I would grab a copy of North Shore News in the olden days...Doug Collins was always worth a laugh too!

      (LaPierre, whose only interest in the city of Vancouver, is to get his BLOODY parking for free. Will citizens stand for this? Not on my watch!)

      Meatballs

      Jan 17, 2015 at 9:16pm

      Screwed by the establishment again, I see. Jodie should run as an independent instead of being some talking head for the Liberals trying to ride JT's historical coat tails.