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Part
I: The Rule of Law
Generally
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Respecting
the Constitution |
The Freedom Party of Canada is committed to upholding
the rule of law. We respect and will not violate
the allocation of legislative powers set out
in the constitution. We will neither introduce
nor support a bill if the constitution does
not give the federal Parliament the authority
to make the bill law. |
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Health Care, Education & Welfare
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Respecting
Provincial Jurisdiction |
The Constitution of Canada gives only the provincial
Legislatures the power to make laws in respect
of health
care, education,
or welfare. The Freedom Party of Canada will
respect the constitutional allocation of these
legislative powers and will repeal federal laws
that dictate provincial decision making in matters
of health care, education, and welfare. |
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Firearms:
Provincial Jurisdiction |
The Freedom Party of Canada takes the position that
the constitution provides only the provincial
Legislatures with the power to make laws concerning
private
property except as an aspect of sentencing
in criminal matters, or in the course of enforcing
personal liabilities owed to the federal government.
Firearms owned by Canadians are private property.
Accordingly, only the provincial Legislatures
have the constitutional authority to make laws
relating to the registration of firearms. The
Freedom Party of Canada will repeal federal
firearms registration legislation. |
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Protecting
Private
Property Rights |
The Freedom Party of Canada is in favour of legal
rights of property that more clearly and positively
defend every individual's natural rights of
property. With the exception of enforcing the
payment of judgments and fines, we oppose the
confiscation by government of property in the
absence of illegal conduct, proved beyond a
reasonable doubt. We are in favour of constitutional
prohibitions against laws that constitute a
violation of property rights, but private property
is a matter falling under exclusively provincial
jurisdiction. Accordingly the Freedom Party
of Canada is in favour of seeking the support
of the provinces for a constitutional amendment
to prohibit both federal and provincial laws
that unjustly deny Canadians their natural rights
of property. |
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Part
II: Equality of All Individuals Under the
Law
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Discriminatory
Government
Unacceptable |
The Freedom Party of Canada strongly opposes laws
or government activities that do not treat every
individual the same as every other individual,
regardless of their genetic make-up, religion,
or peaceful lifestyle choices. The Freedom Party
of Canada rejects the notion that discrimination
is an acceptable way of combatting discrimination.
The Freedom Party of Canada will repeal discriminatory
laws, or amend them such that they confer no
benefit or status as a discriminatory means
or to a discriminatory end. |
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Part
III: Revenue, Borrowing, Debt & Spending
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Revenue
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All
to Bear Financial Responsibility for Tax Increases |
The Freedom Party of Canada is in favour of disentangling
accounts payable and accounts receivable. A
free society is a society of individuals who
bear the responsibility for their actions, including
financial responsibility for the consequences
of their actions in the voting booth. While
an income tax is in place, every resident of
Canada must bear a financial responsibility
for increases in taxation: those who advocate
raising taxes must be prepared, and themselves
required, to pay more taxes. The financial assistance
of those who, because of their tax liabilities,
are in demonstrable need, is an accounts payable
matter, and ought not to be effected by means
of reduced tax liabilities. |
Decreasing
Income Taxes before Consumption Taxes |
The Freedom Party of Canada distinguishes between
government services (e.g., military) and government
subsidies (e.g., welfare). Taxes paid by every
individual must, to the extent possible and
feasible, bear a direct relation to the costs
of the government services provided to that
individual. Also, to the greatest extent possible,
the payment of a tax or fee should be the result
of a voluntary choice on the part of the individual
paying the tax. Accordingly, the Freedom Party
of Canada puts a higher priority on decreasing
income taxes than on decreasing sales or other
consumption taxes. |
Single
Rate of Income Taxation |
In a "single rate" or "flat" tax system, every
individual pays a given percentage of his earnings
to the government. The result is that those
who earn more dollars pay more dollars to the
government. Many people would like to earn more
money to make ends meet, to save for retirement,
to purchase a house, or to put their children
through college or university. However, under
the current "progressive taxation" system, many
individuals are discouraged from making extra
money because they are forced to pay a higher
percentage of their extra earnings over to the
government. Canadians ought not to be discouraged
in this way from trying to make life better
for themselves and their families. The Freedom
Party of Canada is opposed to "progressive taxation".
Until a better system can be introduced feasibly
to improve the relation between taxes paid and
government services provided, we support the
transition to a single rate of income taxation
(i.e., a "flat tax"). |
Capital
Gains Tax to be Eliminated |
The Freedom Party of Canada respects every individual's
property rights. We reject the notion that a
person should be taxed on the accrued value
of property purchased with earnings that have
already been taxed. Accordingly, the Freedom
Party of Canada is committed to eliminating
the taxation of capital gains. |
Respecting
Exclusively Provincial Taxation Powers |
The Freedom Party of Canada is committed to obeying
the constitutional division of legislative powers
over taxation and other revenue-generating measures.
Specifically, we reject the notion that federal
taxation powers are unlimited in scope, and
we are committed to respecting the exclusive
jurisdiction of the provincial Legislatures
with respect to "direct
taxation, within the province, in order
to the raising of a revenue for provincial purposes".
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Federal
Government Not to Borrow; Fighting War an Exception |
Deficit spending (i.e., borrowing by government) allows
Canadian governments today to buy the votes
of today's Canadians by spending the money earned
by the Canadians of tomorrow. The Freedom Party
of Canada is committed to legislation prohibiting
the borrowing of money by government except
to fund the Canadian military for the purposes
of fighting a war declared by Parliament. |
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Debt
Relief Plan |
As of 2012, the federal debt was 600 billion dollars. Canadians
pay over 100 million dollars per day in interest
on the federal debt alone: they pay additional
millions toward the interest owing on their
provincial governments' debt. Under current
monetary and banking policy the debt will
not be paid off with tax revenues within most
Canadians' lifetime. To pay that interest,
federal taxes are 60% higher than they would
be if the debt were eliminated. Because Canadians
pay that extra tax money to government, most
Canadians are borrowing more than they otherwise
would borrow. Canada is in the middle of a
debt crisis, though the parties in power are
unwilling to acknowledge it, much less do
anything about it.
The Freedom Party of Canada, when elected, will
take immediate action to eliminate those debts
that function as Canadian dollars (e.g., "credit"
loaned by banks to individuals and their federal,
provincial and municipal governments): to
provide Canadians with a much-needed, one-time
fresh start. In broad outline, the Freedom
Party debt relief plan has three parts:
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Replace
Bank Credit with Currency; No Change in Number
of Dollars |
i.
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Every dollar of bank-issued credit that is part of
the Canadian money supply and that has been
borrowed by persons or governments in Canada
will be repaid with a dollar of Bank
of Canada currency (because every dollar of
credit will be replaced with a dollar of currency,
there will be no change in the number of dollars
constituting the Canadian money supply). Specifically,
the chartered banks will be deemed to hold,
at the Bank of Canada, additional currency in
the exact quantity needed to pay off the those
debts. The Bank of Canada will be required to
provide notes to represent that currency if
the notes are demanded by a chartered bank to
whom they are owed. |
Preventing
Inflation: 100% Reserve Requirement to be Imposed |
ii.
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So that an increase in the money supply does not
result from the issuance of the additional currency,
a 100% reserve requirement will be imposed on
all financial institutions in Canada: banks
will no longer be permitted to increase the
supply of Canadian dollars. Banks will still
be permitted to lend out money deposited by
their customers for that purpose, but only if
the customer does not, at the same time, have
use of, or access to, the money deposited by
him or her. |
Resultant
Surplus Revenues First Used to Pay Down Remaining
Debt |
iii.
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Steps 1 and 2 would leave the federal government with
revenue that had previously been paid to banks
as interest. The Freedom Party of Canada will
dedicate that revenue to paying down any debt
remaining after steps 1 and 2 are implemented
(e.g., to pay off debts owing to foreign creditors
and the federal civil service pension plan).
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Fiscal
Responsibility: Federal Spending Power not Unlimited |
With the exception of federal transfer payments mandated
by the constitution, the constitution
does not permit the federal government to spend
federal revenues on provincial purposes. The
Freedom Party of Canada rejects the claim that
the federal government has a so-called "federal
spending power" that gives the federal government
unlimited power to spend federal revenues on
exclusively provincial matters. With the exception
of constitutionally mandated subsidies to provinces,
a Freedom Party of Canada government will spend
federal revenues on only those matters
over which the federal Parliament has the power
to make laws. "Spending" shall not, itself,
be considered a federal "matter" for that purpose.
MORE
INFORMATION |
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Part
IV: Prices & Canada's Money Supply
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Buying
Power of Dollar Allowed to Increase; Improved
Standard of Living for All Canadians |
The Freedom Party of Canada believes that all Canadians
should benefit from a growing economy. We take
the position that a person who saves or earns
Canadian dollars ought not to be deprived
of an increase in the buying power of the Canadian
dollar. The Freedom Party of Canada is committed
to ensuring that efforts to control price
deflation/inflation
do not involve a redistribution of buying power
(for example, a redistribution caused by the
creation of additional dollars by government
or banks). We take the position that a person
who saves or earns Canadian dollars is entitled
to the full benefit of an increase in the
value
of those dollars (for example, during times
of economic growth). |
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Part V: Federal Programs
Canada
Pension Plan
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Canada
Pension Plan Value Transferable to Another Retirement
Investment |
Canadians must be free to direct their retirement savings
- all of their savings - to the investment vehicles
of their choice. Accordingly, the Freedom Party
of Canada is in favour of discontinuing forced
contributions to the Canada Pension Plan and
permitting Canadians to invest their retirement
savings as they see fit. At the same time, the
Freedom Party of Canada respects the fact that
Canadians have, for decades, paid into the CPP
system and cannot be expected now to be robbed
of the benefit of those contributions. Accordingly,
while discontinuing mandatory CPP contributions,
the Freedom Party of Canada is in favour of
an implementation that will compensate Canadians
in full for the current value of their Canada
Pension, and allow them to transfer that value
into the investment vehicle of their choice.
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Excess
Employment Insurance Premiums Returned to Those
who Paid Them |
It is wrong for a government to force Canadians
to buy employment insurance, and then add the
excess employment insurance premiums paid by
some Canadians to the general revenues spent,
by government, on all Canadians. Insurance premiums
are not tax revenues. The Freedom Party of Canada
would return excess premiums to the persons
from whom they were taken. |
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Part
VI: Subsidies, Monopolies & Protectionism
Business
Subsidies
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No
Subsidies to Businesses |
The Freedom Party of Canada is opposed to forcing
Canadians to give or lend their earnings to
businesses in Canada through the mechanism of
government taxing and spending. All businesses
in Canada that want or need financing must be
left to borrow it from banks or other private
sources, or to encourage Canadians and others
to purchase shares or bonds. A business whose
financial situation is so bad that banks and
investors are unwilling to lend the business
money or buy the business' shares is not a business
to which taxpayers should be forced to give
their earnings. |
No
Subsidies to Customers of Businesses |
The Freedom Party of Canada is opposed to forcing
Canadians to give or lend their earnings - through
the mechanism of government taxing and spending
- to foreign persons that want the money so
that they can buy products made in Canada. In
such cases, the real buyer is the Canadian taxpayer,
yet the recipient of the product is a person
in another country. |
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Government-Imposed
Monopolies
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Ending
Monopolies Imposed by Law |
A monopoly that is created pursuant to law or
regulation has no less of a negative impact
on the provision of goods or services than a
monopoly that results naturally from competition
in a free market. Whereas a business that has
gained a natural monopoly must continue to satisfy
customers sufficiently to maintain its monopoly
in a financially rewarding way, a business that
is granted a monopoly by government need not
satisfy anyone to maintain its monopoly. Accordingly,
the Freedom Party of Canada will repeal federal
laws that give any business a monopoly on the
provision of goods or services. |
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No
Censorship, Content, Pricing or Monopoly Role
for CRTC |
Individuals must be free to express or not express themselves
in a peaceful manner without legal consequences.
Accordingly, the Freedom Party of Canada is
in favour of disempowering the CRTC with respect
to matters of censorship, content, pricing and
monopoly. |
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Bank
Mergers & Competition
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Banks
Free to Merge |
The Freedom Party of Canada takes the position that
decisions concerning mergers by banks in Canada
should be made solely by the banks in question,
which properly act only in the interests of
their respective shareholders: the thousands
of Canadians who own shares of the banks. |
Open
Competition in Banking |
The Freedom Party of Canada also takes the position
that greater competition should be permitted
in Canadian banking. Canadians are not well-served
by the current two-class system which impedes
free-market competition among banks, to the
detriment of Canadian banking customers. The
rights, powers, and duties of all banks in Canada
ought rightfully to be the same. |
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Part
VII: Administration of Justice
Election
of Trial Judges
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Trial
Judges to be Elected to single 10 year term |
All judges have political values and a philosophy,
and no judge is completely uninfluenced by
his or her values and philosophy when rendering
decisions in our Courts. Currently, judges
in our Superior Courts are appointed
by the Governor General of Canada according
to the recommendations of the Minister of
Justice.
The findings and reasons of a trial judge have
a very large impact on the success or failure
of appeals. There will always exist the ability
of a skilled trial judge to render an unjust
result one that is difficult to appeal successfully.
Because appeals are so costly, most Canadians
cannot afford an appeal. Accordingly, the
selection of intellectually honest, logical
and capable trial judges is crucial.
As a check and balance, the Freedom Party of
Canada would implement a constitutional convention
whereby the federal Justice Minister's recommendation
to the Governor General in respect of the
appointment of trial judges to Canada's superior
and federal courts would be made in accordance
with the desire of the public, as expressed
in judicial elections. Because elections do
not guarantee that a judge will end up being
a good judge, the Freedom Party of Canada
also supports and would promote an amendment
to the constitution that would allow trial
judges to serve for only a single term of
not more than 10 years.
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Judicial
"Reading-In" and "Reading-Down"
to be Prohibited |
The Freedom Party of Canada takes the position that,
with respect to laws made by Parliament, the
proper function of the judiciary is to interpret
the statutes, not to amend them. Only our duly-elected
representatives in Parliament have the constitutional
authority to make statutes, or to amend or repeal
statutes. In recent years, judges have adopted
the practice of deeming statutes to say things
that they do not expressly say (i.e., "reading
in" things that are not written in a statute,
or "reading down/out" things that are written
in a statute). Sometimes, this is done to prevent
a law from being rendered unconstitutional.
Sometimes, it is done to the constitution itself
(for example, to create rights for groups or
individuals that are mentioned nowhere in the
constitution). The Freedom Party of Canada takes
the position that the courts must be prevented
from amending statutes in this way. The proper
course is for the courts to remit a flawed law
back to Parliament for amendment by Canada's
elected representatives. Accordingly, the Freedom
Party of Canada would pass a law prohibiting
such judicial "reading in" and "reading down"
of Canada's statutes, including Canada's constitution.
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Judicial
Vacancies to be Filled Promptly |
Canada does not suffer from a lack of criminal laws,
but from a lack of enforcement. Under the constitution,
the
federal Parliament makes criminal laws,
but the provinces
are responsible for paying the police and
prosecutors who enforce the Criminal Code within
the provinces. Accordingly, in the provinces,
underfunding for law enforcement is largely
a problem to be taken up with ones provincial
legislature. However, the appointment
of judges to Canada's superior courts is
a federal responsibility. To the extent that
federally-appointed judges are in short supply
from time to time, the Freedom Party of Canada
places a high priority on filling judicial vacancies.
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Part
VIII: Arts, Sports & Culture
Multiculturalism
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Multiculturalism
to be Free of Government Interference: No Subsidies
to Promote One Culture over Another |
Canadians and other residents of Canada hold, cherish,
explore and express thousands of cultural
beliefs, habits, preferences and practices.
Canada's culture, if it can be said to have
only one, changes constantly as trends and
fads come and go, and as the cultural mix
of Canadians changes over time.
In reality, Canada is a land with not one but
many, changing cultures: a dynamic, multicultural
land. And it is naturally so: even in the
absence of government, Canada would be multicultural.
Government efforts to prevent cultural change and diversity
are time consuming, expensive, and fruitless.
They are also offensive and wrong. The Freedom
Party of Canada takes the position that each
individual in Canada should be free to promote
and support the culture that appeals to him
or her, and should not have to fight to counter
pressures from a government to adopt or support
certain elements of what a government considers
to be Canadian culture. Accordingly, the Freedom
Party of Canada is in favour of ending efforts
to prevent or control cultural change or to
promote what a given government might fancy
the "official" culture of Canada.
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Arts
& Sports Sponsorships
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Arts
and Sports Free to Seek Sponsorships |
Government interference with matters of contract in relation
to funding is presently hurting Canada's arts
and sports communities. Accordingly, the Freedom
Party is opposed to laws against the marketing
of legal products and services and in favour
of lifting the financial barriers to what could
be a more vital and thriving arts and sports
community in Canada. |
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Part
IX: Foreign Affairs & National Defence
Foreign
Affairs
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International
Agreements to Require Parliamentary Approval;
No Global Legal Jurisdiction |
Decisions to enter into international agreements ought
not to rest with the government but must require
the agreement of Canada's elected representatives
in Parliament. And, even with said agreement,
Canada must not enter into any agreement that
prejudices, limits or restricts Canada's right
to make laws and policies for itself, or that
delegates governmental power (law-making, executive
functions, judicial functions or administrative/enforcement
functions) to an international body: no Canadian
should be subjected to the jurisdiction of a
foreign authority. Moreover, the realities of
political dynamics requires that individuals
continue to have the ability to find asylum
outside of legal jurisdictions in which they
are persecuted: the defence of freedom requires
that no individual or group ought ever to be
trusted with global legal jurisdiction. |
International
Trade and Freedom of Movement to be Pursued;
Canada to Remain Absolutely Sovereign |
The Freedom Party of Canada supports continued efforts
to harmonize the laws of the world's countries,
and to free up the movement of goods, services
and persons around the globe. This includes
participation in meetings held by international
non-governmental organizations. However, the
Freedom Party of Canada is committed to a foreign
policy that respects, and guarantees the continuance
of, Canada's absolute jurisdictional sovereignty
and independence. |
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Military
for Defence, Not Political Currency |
The Canadian forces are too few in number, over-extended,
and under-equipped. The Freedom Party of Canada
takes the position that the legitimate functions
of the military are to respond to and prevent
unwelcome invasion of Canadian territory, attacks
on Canadian territory, or other acts of war
against Canada that occur away from Canadian
territory (for example, as against Canadians
held hostage by a foreign power or terrorist
group). Activities or planned activities anywhere
on the globe that have as their purpose or effect
an attack on the life, liberty or property of
Canadians are legitimate triggers for military
response where prudent diplomacy has failed.
The Freedom Party of Canada opposes the use
of military personnel where such a trigger has
not occurred. In particular, the Freedom Party
of Canada opposes the use of Canadian military
to curry political or economic favour with foreign
governments in the absence of a legitimate trigger.
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Restoration
of Military; Basic Training for Volunteer Civilians
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The Freedom Party of Canada is committed to the
restoration of an effective military defence
of the life, liberty and property of Canadians.
This requires a larger, more intensively trained
full-time force, and an investment in military
hardware and software. However, given the size
of Canada, and the large number of sparsely
populated communities in it, the provision of
basic physical and military training for volunteer
civilians ought also to be a priority. |
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Part
X: The Environment
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Environmental
Laws Consistent with Rights of Life, Liberty
and Property |
The guiding principle in matters of the environment
must be the preservation of human life, liberty
and property. To that end, the Freedom Party
of Canada is in favour of a balanced and intellectually
honest approach to environmental law that prevents
or punishes demonstrable environmental harm
that demonstrably violates an individual's rights
of life, liberty or property. We reject the
imposition of environmental laws the purpose
and effect of which are not to protect rights
of life, liberty and property but to undermine
those rights or to turn back the clock on human
scientific, intellectual or technological progress.
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Part
XI: Government Corruption
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Party
Kick-backs Prohibited |
The Freedom Party of Canada would prohibit MPs,
and the parties and riding associations of which
they are members, from receiving and retaining
political contributions from any individual
or corporation that has entered into a contract
for the provision to the federal government,
or a federal agency, of goods or services. |
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Part
XII: Marijuana Prohibition
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Marijuana
Prohibition to be Ended; Prisoners Released;
Records Cleared |
Few adults want their children to smoke marijuana,
but fewer still would want their children labelled
offenders for life simply for having smoked
marijuana. Moreover, the manufacture and sale
of marijuana cannot be stopped: prohibition
laws simply move marijuana trade from the legitimate
drug production market into the dangerous, unregulated
criminal market. In the criminal market, there
exist no controls to ensure that consumers are
not unwittingly sold marijuana tainted with
much more harmful chemicals, such as PCP. The
Freedom Party of Canada will not promote marijuana
consumption. However, the Freedom Party of Canada
will repeal marijuana prohibition, will release
from custody or imprisonment all Canadians held
only for growing, selling, or possessing marijuana,
and will purge from every Canadian's record
any record of a violation concerning only the
growing, selling, or possession of marijuana.
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