Jay Currie

(I posted this in Jason Cherick’s comments. Go sign the Emery petition…)

Political, in this context, has several aspects. First, it is pretty clear Emery was targetted as much for the fact he is a strong advocate of drug law reform as for his business activites.

Second, the overall American War on Drugs is a political war in which American politicians are competing to show who is tougher on crime using drug laws and mandatory minimums as measures of toughness.

Third, Canada has made an explicitly political decision not to follow America down the “Zero Tolerance, Ten year minimum road”.

Fourth, Canada has a Charter with by 6(1) promises security of person and s. 7 a reputable system of justice.

Fifth, America is seeking to set a precedent for extradition in a relatively case where the “crime” is so trivial under Canadian law that we have exercised our prosecutorial discretion and declined to charge anyone for at least a decade. That precedent, once established will allow the US Government to go after other seed sellers and paraphinalia makers; but it will also put file sharers and people who crack software encryption at risk of the DMCA.

Put those elements together and, in my view, both at the judicial level and the ministerial, for the sake of the preservation of the probity of the administration of justice, Emery’s S. 6(1) rights to the security of his person must not be violated.

This is not about pot – it is about sovereignty and the Canadian government acting to protect the rights our Charter has granted to each of us.