Green Party Ready to Pitch Platform

Woah. I just came to the realization that I don't think I've heard the word "hemp" uttered in years. :P

I think the Green party is afraid of any hemp associations - when asked directly about the legalization issue, May said it was still on the Green agenda but immediately diverted to the above greenshift plan. Although many rational people understand the hemp debate, I am sure the Green party wants to distance themsleves for now to gain 'credibility' amongst the irrationals.

Their "Green Shift" plan would be so much more intriguing if by green the meant "weed" and by shift they meant "delivery to the people". ;)

Nobody's cheering harder for the Greens than Stephen Harper. A splintered Left is great news for a united Right.

It should be noted, however, that even Ms. May encouraged strategically voting the Conservatives out of office.

I think rail transport is being outdone by trucks due to large gov't subsidy to the latter. The problem I see is that even if a railway brings it to the station, we need trucks for distribution w/i the municipalities, where most of the pollution problems exist. There was a reason why old markets grew around rail lines. As for stopping nuclear energy use, I don't think I'm convinced...

I was referring to their mention of hemp as a fuel/wood source but if were talking drugs lets give them a round of applause for being the only party to point out the stupidity of the war on drugs (seriously)

As much as I'd hate to see Canadian elections turn into a year-long circus, when parties release their platforms two weeks from election day it tells me that not enough time is alloted for campaigning and giving people enough time to decide.

On another note, I wish it was illegal to break campaign promises. We elect them because they say they'll do something. That's a contract in my eyes, but they're free to break it without warning or reason and the only recourse we have is to not vote for them 4 or 5 years later, and quite possibly be stuck with the consequences far beyond then.

Wow, destroying the nuclear industry is part of the Green platform? I would have thought Mrs. May would understand that nuclear is the price we need to pay to have clean air. The demand for power is not going away, and it is almost impossible to set up wind and solar to power all of Canada, so the real alternative you're giving us is Coal-fired plants...

Besides, with current technologies, and strict safety standards set in place in Canada, it is about as likely as a giant meteor hitting the earth than an uncontained accident. (by uncontained I mean 0 injuries and all radiation is contained in the core or the vacuum).

To top that off, the amount of power produced and the amount of leftover material afterwards, the amount of hazardous radiation produced is very very small. Finally, there have been lots of scientific undertakings at various universities that have been aimed at speeding up the breakdown of certain chemical compounds (nuclear waste, plastics, etc).

Sloppy reporting. If you can't find Liberal pledge on GHG reduction (featured in their platform), don't write articles like this one. The numbers are below, btw:

? reduce greenhouse gas emissions to at least 20 percent below 1990 levels
by 2020, and increasing this goal to at least 25 percent if other countries
make comparable efforts;
? reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 40 percent below 1990 emission levels
by 2035
? reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 60 to 80 percent below 1990 emission
levels by 2050.

@Jerrold ...that would make me actually want to vote. they'd never do something that rational.

Hemp is not a drug people. It is an extremely valuable agricultural resource that requires no pesticide or fertilizer to grow and can be used to produce a number of valuable products from clothes to fuel to food. The seeds from this plant contain all eight essential amino acids and have been used as a major food source by people around the world for thousands of years. We all just decided to stop growing it around here at the beginning of the 20th century for some reason. True, Marijuana and Hemp are related, but Hemp is no drug. Hemp production could be another valuable source of income for Canadian farmers, and help to lower our reliance on imported goods.

Hemp can not be written off as a hippie ideal. It can be used to make paper! I am a graphic designer and excessive, unneeded printed materials make up for 30% of pulp and paper usage in Canada. Hemp is a crop, it can be harvested, and replanted. It is more sustainable than clear cutting, http://maps.google.ca/maps?q=British+Columbia&ie=UTF8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&ll=53.294772,-124.285583&spn=1.157341,2.131348&t=h&z=9