C-15 has passed the House of Commons

I write to you today with bad news. Bill C-15, mandatory minimum sentences for drug offences including marijuana passed the House of Commons 195/54. The bill was pushed through by the Conservative Party with the support of the Liberals. The Conservatives blatantly ignored all evidence and expert testimony and instead relied on talking points and ideology; Karl Rove and George W Bush would be proud, Canadians would be disgusted. The Conservatives were pressed by every party to provide a single piece of evidence in support of C-15, the Conservatives could not provide a singly study.

The NDP and the Bloc Quebecois led an admirable fight against this bill, assisted by many Liberals. Libby Davies (NDP), Bill Siksay (NDP), Real Menard (Bloc) and Keith Martin (Liberal) were pationate and dedicated on this issue, with each advocating no only against C-15, but for decriminalization, or legalization of marijuana. Both the Bloc and the NDP were uniquivocal and on point, I encourage everyone to email and thank those parties for their hard work.

The Bill passed because the Conservative Party and their media machine paint anyone who opposes these kinds of bills as “soft on crime” or “not caring about children”. The Liberals are too afraid of being branded as such before an election, and so have reluctantly supported bill C-15.

C-15 is not law yet, however. The Senate must still study and pass C-15, which is why we must now focus our lobbying on the Senate.

Votes on C-15:

YEAS

Members
Abbott
Ablonczy
Aglukkaq
Allen (Tobique—Mactaquac)
Ambrose
Anderson
Andrews
Ashfield
Bagnell
Bains
Bennett
Benoit
Bernier
Bevilacqua
Bezan
Blackburn
Blaney
Block
Boucher
Boughen
Braid
Breitkreuz
Brown (Leeds—Grenville)
Brown (Newmarket—Aurora)
Brown (Barrie)
Bruinooge
Byrne
Cadman
Calandra
Calkins
Cannan (Kelowna—Lake Country)
Cannis
Cannon (Pontiac)
Carrie
Casson
Chong
Clarke
Clement
Coady
Coderre
Crombie
Cummins
Cuzner
D'Amours
Davidson
Day
Dechert
Del Mastro
Devolin
Dhaliwal
Dhalla
Dion
Dosanjh
Dreeshen
Duncan (Vancouver Island North)
Duncan (Etobicoke North)
Dykstra
Easter
Eyking
Fast
Finley
Flaherty
Fletcher
Folco
Foote
Galipeau
Gallant
Garneau
Glover
Goldring
Goodale
Goodyear
Gourde
Grewal
Guarnieri
Guergis
Hall Findlay
Harper
Harris (Cariboo—Prince George)
Hawn
Hiebert
Hill
Hoback
Hoeppner
Holland
Ignatieff
Jean
Jennings
Kamp (Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge—Mission)
Kania
Karygiannis
Kenney (Calgary Southeast)
Kent
Kerr
Komarnicki
Kramp (Prince Edward—Hastings)
Lake
Lauzon
Lebel
LeBlanc
Lee
Lemieux
Lobb
Lukiwski
Lunn
Lunney
MacAulay
MacKay (Central Nova)
MacKenzie
Malhi
Mayes
McCallum
McColeman
McGuinty
McKay (Scarborough—Guildwood)
McLeod
McTeague
Mendes
Menzies
Merrifield
Miller
Minna
Moore (Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam)
Moore (Fundy Royal)
Murphy (Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe)
Murphy (Charlottetown)
Murray
Neville
Nicholson
Norlock
O'Connor
O'Neill-Gordon
Obhrai
Oda
Oliphant
Paradis
Patry
Payne
Pearson
Petit
Poilievre
Prentice
Preston
Proulx
Raitt
Rajotte
Ratansi
Rathgeber
Richards
Rickford
Ritz
Rodriguez
Russell
Savage
Saxton
Scarpaleggia
Scheer
Schellenberger
Shea
Shipley
Shory
Simms
Simson
Smith
Sorenson
Stanton
Storseth
Strahl
Sweet
Szabo
Tilson
Toews
Tonks
Trost
Trudeau
Tweed
Uppal
Valeriote
Van Kesteren
Van Loan
Vellacott
Verner
Volpe
Wallace
Warawa
Watson
Weston (West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country)
Weston (Saint John)
Wilfert
Wong
Woodworth
Wrzesnewskyj
Yelich
Young
Zarac

Total: -- 195

NAYS

Members
Allen (Welland)
Angus
Ashton
Bachand
Bellavance
Bevington
Bigras
Blais
Bouchard
Bourgeois
Cardin
Carrier
Charlton
Christopherson
Comartin
Crowder
Cullen
Davies (Vancouver Kingsway)
Davies (Vancouver East)
Deschamps
Dorion
Duceppe
Duncan (Edmonton—Strathcona)
Gaudet
Godin
Guay
Guimond (Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord)
Harris (St. John's East)
Hughes
Laforest
Laframboise
Lavallée
Layton
Lemay
Lessard
Lévesque
Malo
Maloway
Marston
Martin (Sault Ste. Marie)
Masse
Mathyssen
Ménard (Hochelaga)
Ménard (Marc-Aurèle-Fortin)
Mulcair
Paillé
Paquette
Plamondon
Pomerleau
Savoie
Siksay
Thi Lac
Vincent
Wasylycia-Leis

Total: -- 54