WAFFLING OVER MARIJUANA LAW AN INSULT TO CANADIANS

We're pretty sure that Canada is still a sovereign nation, but with the
Liberals waffling over marijuana, it's getting harder and harder to tell.

The marijuana bill -- which was to decriminalize the possession of small
amounts of pot -- was supposed to be introduced on Thursday, but the feds
have now delayed it until at the least the last week of May, when Parliament
returns from recess.

Health Minister Anne McLellan attributed the delay to the fact that she has
still not secured funding for a national drug strategy.

"You have to be ready with information, with education and with treatment,"
Ms. McClellan said, because decriminalization of marijuana "can lead to
addiction."

Even Justice Minister Martin Cauchon didn't buy that, as he pointed to the
fact that 100,000 Canadians use marijuana every day.

But that left Mr. Cauchon without an excuse for the delay and strengthened
suspicions that he is bowing to pressure from the United States.

The U.S. has repeatedly expressed concern over Ottawa's plans to
decriminalize possession of small amounts of pot.

U.S. director of national drug policy John Walters has said that
decriminalization could cause snarls at the Canada-U.S. border as customs
inspectors would have to step up their searches for drugs.

With no sense of irony, Mr. Walters characterized Canada's drug problem as
"out of control" and expressed concern about the large amount of British
Columbian marijuana that makes its way to the U.S.

Those concerns led Mr. Cauchon to meet with U.S. Attorney-General John
Ashcroft on Tuesday. Mr. Cauchon would not discuss the meeting other than to
say that it was "cordial."

Cordial or not, the meeting produced howls of outrage from opposition
members of Parliament who accused the justice minister of contempt of
Parliament for consulting with U.S. officials before discussing the bill
with his fellow MPs.

Mr. Cauchon countered by saying that MPs have been consulted in that a
parliamentary committee reviewed the bill. And Speaker Peter Milliken said
he found no breach of the privilege of Parliament.

Nevertheless, given that Prime Minister Jean Chretien admitted Ottawa is
concerned about Washington's threats, and given that Mr. Cauchon decided to
delay introduction of the bill the day after meeting with Mr. Ashcroft, it's
entirely reasonable for MPs to be concerned that the U.S. is interfering
with Canadian drug policy.

Further, the Commons committee that reviewed the bill recommended
decriminalization of possession of less than 30 grams of pot.

That was magically changed to less than 15 grams after Mr. Walters
complained that 30 grams is too much.

And while the bill was originally primarily about decriminalization, Mr.
Cauchon is now talking tough. He says marijuana growers will face a maximum
of 14 years in prison under the new law -- twice the current penalty.

According to the justice minister, the heavier penalties will send a message
"that the use of cannabis is illegal in Canada."

But to whom is Mr. Cauchon sending the message? Since Canadians already know
that cannabis is illegal, the only conclusion is that he's pandering to the
U.S.

And that's an insult to Canada and to every Canadian. Canada didn't
interfere when 12 U.S. states legislated various degrees of
decriminalization.

And Canadians don't complain about America's lax gun laws, even after a
cache of American weapons destined for Canada was discovered by Canadian
customs inspectors earlier this week.

In the midst of the controversy, Mr. Cauchon said: "As justice minister, I
will do what I think is best for the Canadian population." And so he should.

Given the close economic and security ties between Canada and the U.S., Mr.
Cauchon should certainly consult with the U.S. on matters of matters that
affect both countries.

But diminishing our sovereignty to appease the Americans is not the best
thing for anyone.