LIBERALS SHUT DOOR ON LEGALIZATION OF POT

Party Delegates Endorse Same-Sex Marriage

OTTAWA - Bluenose Liberals are not lining up behind party members who want
to make it legal to smoke marijuana.

Almost 600 Liberals from across Canada voted on Saturday to endorse the
legalization of marijuana while cracking down on grow operations, but both
decisions were made in workshops and neither went to the main convention
floor. Nova Scotia Liberal MPs in Ottawa for the party's national
convention were not enthusiastic about the idea, but all support the
government's current legislation, which will decriminalize the possession
and consumption of small amounts of pot. "I would not be supporting a
motion to legalize marijuana," Fisheries Minister Geoff Regan said. "I
support our bill, which is to decriminalize it but to maintain strong
fines, particularly for the sale and grow operations and so forth."

The legalization resolution, promoted by Alberta Young Liberals, called for
the government to legalize and tax marijuana, in order to raise $3 billion
per year for the government while taking a lucrative business away from
criminals.

After four RCMP officers were killed in Alberta on Thursday, Liberals were
said to be nervous about the resolution, fearing it would be linked with
the shooting, which took place at a marijuana grow operation.

The government may legalize weed in the future, but it's not time now,
Public Works Minister Scott Brison said.

"There hasn't been an informed debate, and you're not going to have enough
of an informed debate in a few minutes on the policy convention floor," he
said.

"I think this is a discussion the government will have, but we're a long
ways from making a decision to proceed toward legalization.

"It's quite possible decriminalization will help us assess other options in
the future, but I don't think we're there yet."

Neither does Dartmouth MP Mike Savage. "My view is that decriminalization
makes sense, but legalization is a little far away, in my mind," he said.

Sydney-Victoria MP Mark Eyking agreed. "If a kid gets caught with a joint,
he should not have a criminal record," he said.

"I always believed it shouldn't ruin a person's life by having one joint."

At Saturday's main convention of some 2,500 delegates, same-sex marriage
legislation won approval - the first time the party has endorsed such unions.

The Liberals also committed themselves to seeking to reform the country's
prostitution ban.

Several resolutions proposed by Nova Scotia Liberals were passed at the
convention, but a proposal to remove the GST from home-heating fuel did not
make it out of workshops.

A resolution to make Nova Scotia the pilot province for new national
health-promotion programs won overwhelming approval from the national
convention.

The idea was initiated by Dartmouth MP Mike Savage. Mr. Savage, who has
focused on health promotion, pushed for the pilot project because of Nova
Scotia's high rates of chronic disease.

Another resolution calls for the government to increase federal funding for
post-secondary education, with some unspecified mechanism to keep provinces
from reducing their spending in response.

That proposal came from the Young Liberals but was supported by Mr. Savage
and senators Terry Mercer and Wilfred Moore.

A Nova Scotia resolution calling for the government to invest in a Kyoto
plan was also passed by the convention.

The convention ends today with the results of a leadership review.