http://openparliament.ca/politicians/kennedy-stewart/
Kennedy Stewart
Hill Office
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
Canada
K1A 0A6
Telephone: 613-996-5597
Fax: 613-992-5501
Mail may be sent postage-free to any Member of Parliament.
Constituency Office(s)
4658 Hastings Street (Main Office)
Burnaby, British Columbia
V5C 2K5
Telephone: 604-291-8863
Fax: 604-666-0727.png)
Kennedy StewartHi Sam, cannabis use is a personal choice, and I do not believe that anyone should be criminalized for using it. Our Party leader, Tom Mulcair, is currently involved in discussions with the Canadian Medical Association on how to best prescribe cannabis (currently, there are no established guidelines, and the medical community has expressed that it needs time before moving to legalization to work out best practices). We believe this issue is too important to too many Canadians to not do it properly - so we are eager to continue our policy discussions around cannabis with experts and other groups. Let me know if I can provide further info. Best wishes, Kennedy
***
he doesn't mention Marijuana, but he does talk about safer communities, when looking at it from a health prespective rather than criminal.
Respect for Communities Act
Government Orders
November 28th, 2013 / 11:15 a.m.
NDP
Government Orders
November 28th, 2013 / 11:15 a.m.
NDP
Kennedy Stewart
Burnaby—Douglas, BC
Mr. Speaker, the questions are good today and I really hope they add to the debate.
Safe injection sites,
again, are a flashpoint for debate just because they are new. They are
new because people's thinking on them has started to change, mainly
because of the great scientific evidence that we have had. Again, these
are peer-reviewed studies that are in international scientific journals
which stem from the work that has been done in the Vancouver site, as
well as sites all around the world.
We have to pay attention
to this evidence, because people are suffering. It is not just the
people who are immediately affected by addiction, it is the communities.
If we were in the downtown east side before the safe injection site was
put in place, we would see a community that was in real pain and chaos.
After the safe injection site, it is not totally fixed, but the harm
has been reduced.
That is really the key
here. When we went from thinking about it as a criminal matter to a
health matter, that was when the debate started to change and we had a
more mature debate about it. I hope we can do that in the House.
****
National Flag of Canada
Private Members' Business
January 30th, 2012 / 11:30 a.m.
NDP
Kennedy Stewart
Burnaby—Douglas, BC
" ...
This bill could perhaps have been added to Bill C-10, which we all know is the omnibus crime bill that rolled nine pieces of legislation into one larger piece of legislation. Perhaps the most famous clause in Bill C-10 is the one that requires six months for six plants, that is, if someone is caught with six marijuana plants in his or her window box, plants the size of a person's little finger, the mandatory minimum sentence is six months in jail. Of course, the federal government can pass these big stick laws without any fear that it is going to drive up the federal deficit because all of these costs are offloaded to the provinces. The Quebec government was the first one to come out and say that Bill C-10 would cost the province perhaps upwards of $1 billion. Now other provinces have come out and said this is offloading by the federal government.
...
"
http://openparliament.ca/debates/2012/1/30/kennedy-stewart-1/
***
October 6th, 2011 / 9:20 a.m.
NDP
Kennedy Stewart
Burnaby—Douglas, BC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I welcome the witnesses. You'll have to excuse me if I jump right to questions. My time is short.
I am mostly interested in
questions regarding the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. My first
question, for Mr. Nicholson, would be regarding the “six months for six
plants” aspect of this bill. In terms of the size of the marijuana
plants, it says that it's six plants; it doesn't seem to be defined.
Would seedings be considered here?
9:20 a.m.
Conservative
Conservative
Rob Nicholson
Niagara Falls, ON
Again, we rely on
police, and it's a question of fact in each case. Since you raised the
six plants, the individual has to be in the business of trafficking—the
business of buying and selling these. As you know, when these matters go
before court, it's a question of fact in each case.
9:25 a.m.
NDP
NDP
Kennedy Stewart
Burnaby—Douglas, BC
Of course the police would need some guidance on this. Will there be any guidance provided?
9:25 a.m.
Conservative
Conservative
Rob Nicholson
Niagara Falls, ON
They get guidance from provincial attorneys general, crown attorneys. They're the experts, quite frankly.
I've been very impressed
in my meetings with them over the years. They tell me what a serious
problem this is in terms of health and safety and how many times this
provides the currency for harder drugs.
It is a big problem, and we're addressing it in this particular piece of legislation.
9:25 a.m.
NDP
NDP
Kennedy Stewart
Burnaby—Douglas, BC
But it is possible that someone could go to jail for six months for having six seedlings in a window box?
9:25 a.m.
Conservative
Conservative
Rob Nicholson
Niagara Falls, ON
He has to be in the
business of trafficking in drugs. I've introduced this four times, and I
appreciate that my critics don't want to talk about that because that
hurts the case against getting rid of the whole bill. But that is an
essential part of that, and that has to be proven in every case.
9:25 a.m.
NDP
NDP
Kennedy Stewart
Burnaby—Douglas, BC
Well, I'm happy to talk about trafficking. I was just wondering how exactly you determine if someone is—
9:25 a.m.
Conservative
Conservative
Rob Nicholson
Niagara Falls, ON
If you're happy to
talk about trafficking, we're on the same page. That's what we're
talking about in this bill. This is good news.
9:25 a.m.
NDP
NDP
Kennedy Stewart
Burnaby—Douglas, BC
I would like to know how exactly you determine whether someone is trafficking in six seedlings.
9:25 a.m.
Conservative
Conservative
Rob Nicholson
Niagara Falls, ON
Law enforcement
agencies can tell you the things they look for. I mean, it's becoming
quite sophisticated. I've been across the country and I've had these
conversations with them. They tell me they see the changes within the
business. They tell me, for instance, the grow-op business has moved
outside the cities and into the country, where they feel they may be
under less scrutiny.
There have been
developments in that. When you talk with law enforcement agencies, I
think you'll be very impressed by how sophisticated and how expert they
are becoming.
http://openparliament.ca/committees/justice/41-1/4/kennedy-stewart-1/
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