http://openparliament.ca/politicians/maurice-vellacott/
Maurice Vellacott
Hill Office
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
Canada
K1A 0A6
Telephone: 613-992-1899
Fax: 613-992-3085
Mail may be sent postage-free to any Member of Parliament.
Constituency Office(s)
- 844 51st Street East Unit 3 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7K 5C7 Telephone: 306-975-4725 Fax: 306-975-4728
© House of Commons
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strong oppose
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Vellacott
highlights
serious flaws in
Liberal
marijuana decriminalization bill
For Immediate Release November 4, 2004
OTTAWA –
This week the Conservative Party voted against the Liberal
government’s misguided marijuana decriminalisation bill. “During
the last Parliament, the Conservative Party, along with various
police and victims groups made numerous recommendations in respect to
this bill, and they have all been ignored by the Liberal government
in Bill C-17,” said Conservative Member of Parliament Maurice
Vellacott. “This legislation is seriously
flawed and sends the wrong message regarding the seriousness of drug
offences. We will be pressing for changes in the House of Commons
Justice Committee.”
The
Conservative Party supports eliminating criminal records for minor
marijuana possession offences, but C-17 would allow for the
decriminalizing of up to 30 grams of pot, enough for 30 to 60
“joints”. Vellacott indicates that allowing 30 grams leaves the
door wide open for drug trafficking.
Young
people should not be receiving a youth discount when it comes to drug
use. Under C-17, youth receive a lesser fine for possession ($100
versus $150 for adults.) We should be sending a strong message to
youth to ensure the penalties remain a deterrent for using marijuana.
“We
agree with stiffer fines and jail terms for marijuana grow-ops, but
the penalties are still at the discretion of judges. We need
mandatory minimum sentences to ensure that judges do not continue to
give sentences that are far less than the increased maximum penalties
for growing,” said Vellacott.
The
fines set out in the bill are much too low and do not increase for
subsequent offences. There should be structures in place to force
fine payment and it should be mandatory for police to issue a summons
after an individual has received more than three fines.
“C-17
does nothing to address the problems this bill will create in our
relationship with the United States. American officials have outlined
concerns about Canada being a source of high-potency marijuana, which
is coming across the U.S. border,” concluded Vellacott.
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