Let's Make It a Real Revolt!

The Star's Susan Delacourt has made note of a growing number of Liberal bloggers who are speaking out today against the Conservatives' crime bill, which would impose mandatory minimum sentences for drug crimes. She called it a "grassroots revolt" against the Liberal Party's stated intention to let this thing pass. Sadly, a few bloggers do not a revolt make. But hundreds of emails just might be a little more convincing.

I just sent the following email to every Liberal MP, including Michael Ignatieff, and I strongly recommend that everyone reading this do the same. To that end, I put together a handy email list of the entire Liberal caucus on my Facebook page. Just copy, paste, and email away!

As a member of the Liberal Party, I strongly urge you and your fellow Liberal caucus members to vote against the Conservative crime bill C-15, which would impose U.S.-style mandatory minimum sentences for drug crimes.

Mandatory minimums have proven time and time again to be ineffective and counterproductive. In fact, nearly every expert witness appearing before the Justice Committee examining this legislation said that it would fill our jails while doing absolutely nothing to curb crime or decrease drug addiction. Countries around the world - including the United States - are backing away from this type of narrowly punitive approach to drug crime, and Canada should be doing the same. Instead, this bill will drag us backwards.

This is not a confidence motion. What it is is an opportunity for the Liberal Party to show some spine and prove that our Party still represents progressive, practical policy and not blind populism.

For more information from a legal perspective, please read the following analysis:
http://lawiscool.com/2009/06/05/dont-do-mandatory-drug-sentances/

Thank you for your consideration.