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DROP POT BILL, FEDS URGED
By Hempology | September 28, 2005
Slain Cops’ Kin Make Appeal Parliament Hill
Families of four Alberta RCMP officers ambushed and murdered last March want the federal government to formally dump its pot bill and get tougher on violent crime.
The families of the murdered Mayerthorpe Mounties also demanded the feds bring in a national drug strategy and a review of parole and sentencing criteria while cracking down on marijuana grow operations.
“We feel we have paid the price to be heard,” said Rev. Don Schiemann, whose son Peter was one of the four officers shot dead by James Roszko during a search of his farm March 3. Schiemann and family of slain officers Anthony Gordon, Leo Johnston and Brock Myrol were in Ottawa yesterday to press their case with the government.
CALLS FOR PAROLE REVIEW
“If we lay this before our politicians and they do nothing and this happens again, the blood of those men and women who are killed will be upon the heads of our politicians,” Schiemann said.
The federal government has yet to introduce its pot bill to Parliament. Justice Minister Irwin Cotler denied it was being shelved although it’s been stalled in a Commons committee for months.
The families are also calling for a complete review of parole and sentencing criteria, including consecutive sentencing, minimum sentences for drug offences and crimes against law enforcement officers and a three-strike rule for drug offences and crimes against law enforcement officers.
Both Cotler and Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan have said that while they’re not convinced that amending the Criminal Code to include mandatory minimum sentences for gun-related crimes will impact on crime, the issue is now under review.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom
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