NDP challenges PM on pot remarks
Mulcair says his party has repeatedly called for amnesty on charges for possessing small amounts of marijuana
KRISTY KIRKUP
OTTAWA — The federal NDP is challenging Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s assertion that he wants to make things more fair for those facing pot-possession charges once marijuana becomes legal.
New Democrat Leader Tom Mulcair said Tuesday his party has repeatedly called for an amnesty on charges for possessing small amounts of pot, but nothing has been done.
Trudeau admitted to smoking pot as a sitting MP and faced no consequences, and yet doesn’t seem to care about Canadians who face charges even though a plan is in place to revoke the prohibition, Mulcair said during a news conference.
“When you’re of that background and you’re privileged and you’ve always had everything given to you and you are treated differently, that’s what he is used to, isn’t?” Mulcair said.
“So he doesn’t find it at all abnormal that he can admit to smoking marijuana while he was a member of Parliament, and at the same time say, ‘The law is the law and you will be prosecuted if you smoke marijuana.’
“That is abject hypocrisy by Justin Trudeau.”
Trudeau shared a story Monday night during a Vice News interview about the time his late brother Michel found himself facing marijuana possession charges.
Trudeau says his father, former prime minister Pierre Trudeau, was able to bring the family’s resources to bear on the problem, including turning to friends in the legal community to help make the charges go away.
Trudeau admits that other Canadians, including marginalized people, are nonetheless treated unfairly in the legal system despite the fact “Canada is supposed to be fair for everybody.”
The Prime Minister’s Office has yet to elaborate on what the prime minister might be talking about when he described a “process.” A blanket pardon for those with pot convictions is not “on the agenda at the moment,” Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale has said.
Mulcair said Trudeau could move quickly to decriminalize marijuana, but refuses to do so.
“Mr. Trudeau’s lame answer is ‘Oh, it is because organized crime would somehow be selling marijuana,’ ” Mulcair said.
“This just in: That’s the case now. That was the case when Mr. Trudeau admitted he was smoking marijuana and that’s going to be the case until the new system is in place, but that’s not a reason to prosecute young people for smoking marijuana.”