Political Standpoints of the Major Parties

With talk of an election coming soon and the leaders of the major political parties basically already campaigning I thought I'd take a moment to look at how each of the major parties sees the marijuana issues so that when the election is called you can be armed with that knowledge. In Canada there are three major national parties, and one regional party with enough power to be considered a serious party. The three national parties are of course the Conservative Party of Canada, the Liberal Party of Canada, and the New Democratic Party of Canada (AKA The NDP). There is also of course the Green Party, which is gaining momentum, but still not really a power player yet. The Bloc Quebecois is a regional party, but they are powerful enough and have enough votes to be considered a serious player on parliament hill. Of these parties only the NDP and the Green Party seriously support legalization of Marijuana, the Bloc and the Liberals support decriminalization, but only marginally, and with no real backbone.

The Conservatives are outright opposed to marijuana legalization, going so far as to decry even medicinal marijuana stating that everyone that uses marijuana should go to jail and that marijuana has zero medicinal benefits. The Cons are basically public enemy number one of anti-prohibition activists. The Cons are all about morality and Christian values. Morality and Christian values are all well and good, but lets keep them out of politics please (read more about my views on morality).

While the Liberals and the Bloc are both supporters of decriminalization, the Liberals seem to be more interested in becoming known as the party that supports decriminalization rather then the party that is pushing for it. The Liberals did very little on this front during their reign prior to being ousted by the Cons in the last election, so it is unlikely they will do anything if they regain power either.

The Bloc will never form government, but they are always a handy swing vote, especially in minority governments, but they usually have little interest in federal matters and are primarily focused on what is good for Quebec, while I do believe they would vote in favour of decriminalization, and might even vote in favour of legalization don't count on them to put forward a bill. Plus the Bloc are separatists, so a vote for them is a vote for a divided Canada.

The NDP support legalization of Marijuana, but I don't see them putting forth a bill to legalize it any time soon. It is too much of a hot button issue and the NDP is just interested in getting more votes to become an actual contender for forming a government. If the NDP forms a majority government, and lets face it the chances of that are slim, then perhaps, but that is the only way I see the NDP pushing for a legalization of marijuana bill.

That leaves the Green Party. This is a very grass roots oriented party, their platform is mainly focused on environmental issues, but they are not a one issue party anymore, their platform last election was well thought out and quite detailed. Their heads may be in the clouds a little bit, but the ideas are good ones. The Greens are even starting to actually play the politics game getting into bed with the Liberals on some issues showing that they can bend in order to compromise. The Green are a long way from being contenders in Ottawa, but at least they have the right idea.

Of course there are many other parties out there, and many of them even fully support the legalization of marijuana, but many are one issue parties or interest only a small portion of the population. If marijuana is ever to be legalized those who support the legalization of marijuana have to show Ottawa that we mean business and put enough of the right candidates in seats to make a difference. The best way to do this is focus on getting one party in with as many seats as possible. I am personally leaning towards the NDP because they actually may have a slim chance of getting real voting power in parliament, and I happen to agree with most of the rest of their policies as well. Whatever you choose make sure you are informed.