Ottawa

Meanwhile, the Greens were suspiciously silent, other than the occasional sound of someone asking if anybody had seen his housekeys.

Apparently, it really is IKYABWAI Day on the campaign trail. Earlier this afternoon, the ITQ inbox received the following from the Liberal Party of Canada:

Layton must come clean on Marijuana Party deal
OTTAWA — NDP Leader Jack Layton must come clean with Canadians about the terms of his secret deal with the British Columbia Marijuana Party and the self-styled “Prince of Pot,” Marc Emery.

The New Democrats lost two of their high profile candidates in B.C. this week when their flagrant and overt drug use came to light on YouTube videos. Both Dana Larsen (West Vancouver- Sunshine Coast – Sea to Sky Country) and Kirk Tousaw (Vancouver Quadra) were extensively connected with the BC Marijuana Party and its founder Marc Emery, as well as being involved in NDP policy development and fundraising.


In a CBC interview aired yesterday, Mr. Emery revealed the long-standing deal with Jack Layton:

“The deal was Jack Layton and the NDP would continue to advocate decriminalization of marijuana. In exchange, we would bring thousands of new members to the party, which we’ve done.” (CBC, “The National”, September 19, 2008) […]

Jack Layton must immediately answer the following questions:

  • What are the specific terms of the deal he made with Marc Emery and the Marijuana Party?
  • How much money have Mr. Emery, the Marijuana Party or other drug activists raised for the NDP?
  • Does the NDP still plan to use these funds now that they are beginning to distance themselves from their drug activist candidates?
  • How many other NDP candidates have close ties with extreme wings of the drug legalization movement?
  • Why did the NDP’s candidate screening process not identify problems with these candidates when evidence was on public websites like YouTube? Or was the NDP fully aware of the videos and simply hoping they would stay under the radar until after the election?
Less than an hour later, a response from the NDP, which claimed that “the same release, word for word, could have been issued raising questions of the Dion Liberals and their ties to the Marijuana Party” – and then proceeded to do just that:
[…] Liberal Leader Stephane Dion has not “come clean” with Canadians about the terms of his deal with the former Marijuana Party Marc-Boris St-Maurice.

The former leader of the Marijuana Party, who ran against Prime Minister Paul Martin in the 2004 general election, quit and joined the Liberals in 2005.

“I believe that if any party will ever legalize marijuana in Canada, it is the Liberals,” St-Maurice said in a statement, “And I hope to bring my knowledge and expertise on this issue to help the Liberal Party develop new policies, programs and legislation which address the marijuana situation.”
(CBC.ca , February 28, 2005)

St-Maurice also donated $1000 to Stephane Dion’s leadership campaign. SOURCE

Stephane Dion must immediately answer the following questions:

  • What are the specific terms of the deal he made with St-Maurice and the Marijuana Party?
  • How much money have Mr. St-Maurice, the Marijuana Party or other drug activists raised for the Dion Liberals?
  • Do the Liberals still plan to use these funds now that they are beginning to distance themselves from their drug activist supporters?
  • How many other Liberal insiders have close ties with extreme wings of the drug legalization movement?
ITQ can see only one way to resolve this, and we’re putting it out there in the only format we can be sure that everyone stuck in the war room on a sunny Saturday afternoon will understand:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MARC EMERY MUST COME CLEAN ON  ANY DEAL, SECRET OR OTHERWISE, WITH NDP, LIBERALS AND/OR ANY OTHER POLITICAL PARTY

(If only to put a stop to what could otherwise be another few dozen rounds of press release ping pong.)

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