Case about treaty, not sovereignty

[Binky]

By NEIL HORNER
Parksville Qualicum Beach News

If Canadians don't want to extradite Marijuana Party leader Marc Emery to the United States, they should make the selling of cannabis seeds legal, says Conservative justice critic Vic Toews.

And, he adds, the issue has nothing to do with Canadian sovereignty.

Speaking at a special justice forum in front of a partisan crowd at the Parksville Community Centre Tuesday night, Toews says the issue is simply about one nation honouring an extradition treaty with another.

Emery was arrested recently on the request of the American government for selling marijuana seeds across the border and for money laundering.

He is subject to an extradition hearing which, if granted, could see him facing as much as life in prison in the United States

"The Marc Emery case is not a sovereignty issue," he says. "We have a treaty between Canada and the United States where, if a crime is committed in the U.S. by a Canadian in Canada and that act is also a criminal act in Canada, then the Americans can request the federal government to request a Canadian judge to extradite him to the United States.

"That's something we agreed to between the two countries.

Toews used the issue of boiler-room operations in Montreal and Toronto, where phone scams target American citizens as an example

"They bilk American citizens with fraudulent schemes, stealing their life savings," he says. "The U.S. says we can identify these people and they make a request for extradition. These people have chosen to break the law in the United States and they want to use the cover of our border as protection. Why should we grant these people protection?

If Canada doesn't want to extradite Emery, the answer is simple.

"The government can say selling marijuana seeds is no longer a crime in Canada, then the extradition law would not apply," he says.

Contact: pqbedit@vinewsgroup.com

http://www.pqbnews.com/portals-code/...d=481392&more=

[groo]

Toews, I think we all understand how extradition works. But you're missing the point that Emery has been blatant about his seed sales for many years, and that Canadian authorities have not seen fit to enforce an old law in over a decade. No one has been charged under that old law in a very, very long time, and it can easily be argued that it is no longer a valid law because it has not been enforced for so long.

Allowing someone to be extradited to face 10 years and possible execution for a "crime" that is an unenforced technicality in Canada is a sovereignty issue, because allowing the extradition says that the US has the right to force the application of obsolete laws that they don't even enforce properly in their own country!

Emery's arrest and attempted extradition are a political move aimed at cutting off a source of funds used to encourage discussion and a change of policies and laws in the US and Canada. To try to pass this off as a "simple" extradition under MLAT is an insult to the intelligence of every Canadian and US citizen.

Toews is right about one thing -- we should remove this obsolete law from our books.

[BigG777]

EASY solution, and one that can be taken care of ENTIRELY by CANADIANS in CANADA. Seems to me that would be a nice, sovereignty affirming exercise in government.

[Pepper]

I agree and every American can call for the resignation of the DEA head Karen Tandy for the tremendous waste of resources on this extradition. This has no effect on the availability of marijuana in the US at all and has only served to highlight how wrongheaded the US war on marijuana has become. I am glad that there are protests planned around the world to condemn this malicious extradition.

[In The Wind]

Also seems like it would just about kill organized crime involment also...Such a simple thing...

[BigG777]

We missed you Pepper.

As an American I sincerely hope Canada will take the steps necessary in the courts to legalize MJ. I think it will serve to create a critical mass in the US. So come on Canada, help us out!

g.