NDP Against the Drug War

Join End Prohibition!

Submitted by Nicole Seguin on Fri, 11/20/2009 - 9:08pm
                 

FREE MARC EMERY - STAND UP FOR CANADIAN SOVEREIGNTY - FREE MARC EMERY

Submitted by Nicole Seguin on Thu, 12/31/2009 - 6:20pm
Canadian activist and legalization advocate Marc Emery needs your help! He is facing extradition to the United States for sale of cannabis seeds to American customers, although he conducted all of his activities in Canada. Call Minister of Justice Rob Nicholson to tell him not to extradite Marc Emery.
 
What you can do:

Call: Prime Minister Stephen Harper

Ottawa Office: (613) 992-4211
Calgary Office: (403) 253-7990
 
Call: Justice Minister Rob Nicholson
Ottawa: (613) 995-1547
Local Office:(905) 353-9590, (905) 871-9991
 

Sample script: "I am a voter and I am outraged at what the government is doing to Marc Emery. I urge you to NOT extradite Marc Emery to the USA. I and many others are deeply moved and angered by Marc Emery's imprisonment. Free Marc Emery!"

US-style mega-prisons wrong for Canada

Submitted by Nicole Seguin on Sat, 03/06/2010 - 2:06am
43% increase in prison construction is wrong approach to keep communities safe
 
OTTAWA – The Harper government’s priorities for public safety are misguided, wasteful and ineffective says New Democrat Public Safety Critic Don Davies (Vancouver Kingsway).
 
“The Conservative plan is to spend 43% more on building prisons,” said Davies. “They are pushing a US-style approach that is expensive and totally ineffective at bringing down the crime rate."
 
The Conservative spending plan tabled this week shows a 43% increase in the budget for prison construction, from $230 million in 09/10 to $329 million in 10/11.
 

Jaffer case draws fire from John Howard Society

Submitted by Nicole Seguin on Wed, 03/10/2010 - 8:16pm
The head of the John Howard Society says Justice Minister Rob Nicholson should take a long, honest look at the Rahim Jaffer case.

Craig Jones says Nicholson should apply lessons from the case to the Conservative criminal justice agenda.

Jones says the Jaffer case shows how mandatory minimum sentences don't work, because they take away discretion from judges to find proportionality in the justice system.

Jaffer is a former senior Conservative MP in the government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper. He walked out of an Ontario courtroom yesterday after drunk driving and cocaine possession charges were dropped against him. In return, Jaffer pleaded guilty to a careless driving charge.

Former Harper aide says Jaffer should apologize

Submitted by Nicole Seguin on Wed, 03/10/2010 - 8:37pm
Tonda MacCharles, The Star
 
OTTAWA – Most of Rahim Jaffer’s Conservative caucus colleagues dashed, squirmed, or told reporters to ask Ontario’s Crown why their former national caucus chair got a “break” – as the judge called it—from prosecution on drunk driving and cocaine possession charges.
 
But Kory Teneycke, a former spokesman for Prime Minister Stephen Harper, said Jaffer is the one who owes the public an explanation and an apology.
 
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EndProhibition

House of Commons meets YouTube

Submitted by Nicole Seguin on Fri, 03/12/2010 - 1:18am

David Akin, National Post

OTTAWA -- Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Thursday that Canada's record-setting performance at the Vancouver Olympics should be an inspiration to MPs and all Canadians as they face the challenges of recovering from the recession.

Mr. Harper made the remark in the House of Commons but was hopeful that it was heard by more than just MPs. Mr. Harper's speech was broadcast live on YouTube, the online video service owned by Google, part of a new initiative his staff said was intended to reach out to Canadians who don't normally pay attention to politics.

NDP, Liberal, Conservative politicians petition to stop Marc Emery's extradition to the US

Submitted by Nicole Seguin on Fri, 03/12/2010 - 12:26am
By Carlito Pablo, Georgia Straight

Members of Parliament from three parties—Conservative, Liberal, and New Democrat—are poised to present petitions with thousands of signatures seeking to stop the extradition to the U.S. of Canada’s Prince of Pot, Marc Emery.

The key to a new life

Submitted by Nicole Seguin on Thu, 03/11/2010 - 10:57pm
 
For the first time in more than a decade, Pat Bebonang has a key to his own place.
 
He had been living on the streets of Kamloops for the past four-and-a-half years, calling dumpsters and doorways home.
 
Before that, he spent his time couch surfing and living with friends.
 
For the first time in so many years, Bebonang is sober more often than not.
 
And the Henry Leland House, he says, helped him unlock his potential.
 

Mental illness problems common among homeless

Submitted by Nicole Seguin on Wed, 03/10/2010 - 9:29pm
By MICHAEL LIGHTSTONE, The Chronicle Herald
 
Bundled up against a cold wind blowing under a grey, bare-tree sky, panhandler Gina clutched her cup of coins.
 
The troublesome path that led her to ask strangers for money on Spring Garden Road in Halifax was travelled with regret but resolve.
 
Gina said drug addiction is what led her downtown recently to beg for spare change.
 
Treatment for the affliction was helpful, before it was avoided. "I was on methadone for 7 ½ years," Gina, 48, said matter-of-factly. "I went off of it, which was the stupidest thing to do, and I got caught back up into it."
 

Vic Toews blames media for Rahim Jaffer 'smear job'

Submitted by Nicole Seguin on Wed, 03/10/2010 - 8:42pm
Jane Taber, Globe and Mail
 
Stephen Harper’s senior Manitoba minister has launched a public attack on a journalist from his province over her reporting of the Rahim Jaffer affair, calling it a “smear job.”
 
In an angry letter, Public Safety Minister Vic Toews accuses Winnipeg Free Press reporter Mia Rabson, the only Manitoba reporter covering Parliament Hill, of advancing the “Liberal spin.”
 
Mr. Toews writes that Ms. Rabson “regularly engages” in “conspiracy theory” stories “because they don’t involve a lot of thought or work.”
 

Former Harper aide says Jaffer should apologize

Submitted by Nicole Seguin on Wed, 03/10/2010 - 8:37pm
Tonda MacCharles, The Star
 
OTTAWA – Most of Rahim Jaffer’s Conservative caucus colleagues dashed, squirmed, or told reporters to ask Ontario’s Crown why their former national caucus chair got a “break” – as the judge called it—from prosecution on drunk driving and cocaine possession charges.
 
But Kory Teneycke, a former spokesman for Prime Minister Stephen Harper, said Jaffer is the one who owes the public an explanation and an apology.
 

Key Senate post up for grabs, but Tories take a pass

Submitted by Nicole Seguin on Wed, 03/10/2010 - 8:33pm
By Jennifer Ditchburn, CP
 
OTTAWA — The Conservatives have passed up a chance to seize control of a key Senate committee that they regularly attack for stalling or watering down government bills.
 
Now that the Tories hold more seats in the upper chamber than the Liberals, they can reconfigure committees to reflect their new power.
 
But instead of taking the chair of the legal and constitutional affairs committee, which has been examining hot-button crime bills, they left that job to Liberal Senator Joan Fraser.
 

Jaffer case draws fire from John Howard Society

Submitted by Nicole Seguin on Wed, 03/10/2010 - 8:16pm
The head of the John Howard Society says Justice Minister Rob Nicholson should take a long, honest look at the Rahim Jaffer case.

Craig Jones says Nicholson should apply lessons from the case to the Conservative criminal justice agenda.

Jones says the Jaffer case shows how mandatory minimum sentences don't work, because they take away discretion from judges to find proportionality in the justice system.

Jaffer is a former senior Conservative MP in the government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper. He walked out of an Ontario courtroom yesterday after drunk driving and cocaine possession charges were dropped against him. In return, Jaffer pleaded guilty to a careless driving charge.

Harper Government Borrowing, Increasing Taxes, to Build Prisons - Crime at 30 year low

Submitted by Nicole Seguin on Wed, 03/10/2010 - 12:19am
By Janice Tibbetts, Canwest News Service

OTTAWA — The head of Canada's prison system says there will be "major construction initiatives" in the coming years to cope with federal legislation to imprison more offenders longer — an assertion backed by new spending estimates showing a 43 per cent increase in penitentiary capital costs next year.

Don Head, commissioner of the Correctional Service of Canada, set the stage for prison expansion in a recent e-mail, obtained by Canwest News Service.

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