Local politicians present petition to stop Marc Emery’s extradition
Posted March 15, 2010 11:18 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – The Prince of Pot could be extradited to the U.S. any day, but it’s hoped a petition will see the Federal Justice Minister reconsider. MPs from three of Canada’s major political parties present a petition in the House of Commons today which aims to keep Marc Emery in Canada.
Emery has pleaded guilty to a drug distribution charge in the U.S., after he was arrested in 2005 for selling marijuana seeds to American customers. Emery faced a possible life sentence if the case went to trial. He’ll spend five years in a U.S. prison on a drug distribution charge if extradited.
Roughly 12,000 people have signed the petition asking Federal Justice Minister Rob Nicholson not to sign Emery’s extradition order. Liberal MP for Vancouver South Ujjal Dosanjh, the NDP’s Libby Davies and Conservative Scott Reid will hand over the petition in the House of Commons.
Dosanjh says presenting petitions is something he is routinely asked to do. “You don’t always agree with everything the petition says or anything that it says…We believe it’s a function that we perform.”
The Justice Minister has had the power to sign the document for over two months, but hasn’t.
Dosanjh isn’t sure how the petition will impact the Justice Minister’s decision. “I’m hoping that the Justice Minister is having the same kind of considerations that are going through our heads while we present these petitions. It’s not necessarily that we agree with Mr. Emery completely or partially, it is that we sense a degree of unfairness in what’s happened to him.”
