Post by kelvin on Oct 14, 2008 18:04:57 GMT -5
Quebec Liberal candidate resigns over Oka comments
Canwest News Service
Published: Thursday, September 11, 2008
QUEBEC - A Quebec City Liberal candidate has resigned after proposing the army should have used lethal force to end the Oka crisis.
"I have asked for and received the resignation of Simon Bedard as the Liberal Party of Canada's candidate in the riding of Quebec," said Liberal Leader Stephane Dion Thursday. "Clearly, Mr. Bedard agrees that the statements he has made regarding First Nations people are not compatible with the beliefs and values of the Liberal Party of Canada."
Bedard, a former radio host, proposed at the time of the 1990 Oka crisis that the army use force to lift Mohawk Warrior barricades, even if that meant as many as 150 deaths.
This week he told Quebec City's Le Soleil daily newspaper that, "maybe we should have done it because 17 years later, it's still the same."
Bedard withdrew the remarks on Wednesday, and the party announced a news conference on Thursday where, it said, he would explain himself. But reporters who arrived for the news conference in a suburban mall were informed it had been put off to an unspecified future date.
Hours later, Dion announced Bedard's resignation.
"While Mr. Bedard has clearly indicated that he no longer holds those views, the Liberal Party of Canada's proud tradition of support for our aboriginal communities must not be overshadowed by these comments."
Quebec City-area native chief Max Gros-Louis, who had called for Bedard's resignation and previously compared him to Hitler, said repeating comments he had made years earlier only showed he was digging in his position.
"Someone who makes comments of this nature on a nation doesn't deserve to be a candidate," he said. "When you write 'you go in there with the army and clean all that up' it doesn't make any sense."
With files from Montreal Gazette
www.canada.com/topics/news/features/decisioncanada/story.html?id=cdbe8c09-5c11-402f-9817-c321c4ff75a8
Another B.C. NDP candidate resigns over concerns about drug use
Sep 19, 2008
VANCOUVER — The federal New Democrats have lost their second pro-marijuana B.C. candidate in a matter of days.
Vancouver-Quadra candidate Kirk Tousaw, a lawyer and former campaign director for the B.C. Marijuana Party, resigned Friday afternoon.
In a statement, Tousaw said he's been compelled to resign because of the "events of the past few days," and the likelihood that his past work in drug reform could distract attention from the party's core issues.
Marijuana advocate Dana Larsen resigned as the NDP's candidate for West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast this week after online videos surfaced showing him smoking marijuana and dropping LSD.
Gerry Scott, the NDP's B.C. campaign director, says the party hopes to have a replacement for Tousaw in place by Saturday.
Scott said the party has no issue with candidates advocating less restrictive laws for marijuana, but felt there was a distinction when videos of a candidate using the drug were freely available.
canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5iIEiPmUaVUMF1zmUJARgyjFkRbdw
Canwest News Service
Published: Thursday, September 11, 2008
QUEBEC - A Quebec City Liberal candidate has resigned after proposing the army should have used lethal force to end the Oka crisis.
"I have asked for and received the resignation of Simon Bedard as the Liberal Party of Canada's candidate in the riding of Quebec," said Liberal Leader Stephane Dion Thursday. "Clearly, Mr. Bedard agrees that the statements he has made regarding First Nations people are not compatible with the beliefs and values of the Liberal Party of Canada."
Bedard, a former radio host, proposed at the time of the 1990 Oka crisis that the army use force to lift Mohawk Warrior barricades, even if that meant as many as 150 deaths.
This week he told Quebec City's Le Soleil daily newspaper that, "maybe we should have done it because 17 years later, it's still the same."
Bedard withdrew the remarks on Wednesday, and the party announced a news conference on Thursday where, it said, he would explain himself. But reporters who arrived for the news conference in a suburban mall were informed it had been put off to an unspecified future date.
Hours later, Dion announced Bedard's resignation.
"While Mr. Bedard has clearly indicated that he no longer holds those views, the Liberal Party of Canada's proud tradition of support for our aboriginal communities must not be overshadowed by these comments."
Quebec City-area native chief Max Gros-Louis, who had called for Bedard's resignation and previously compared him to Hitler, said repeating comments he had made years earlier only showed he was digging in his position.
"Someone who makes comments of this nature on a nation doesn't deserve to be a candidate," he said. "When you write 'you go in there with the army and clean all that up' it doesn't make any sense."
With files from Montreal Gazette
www.canada.com/topics/news/features/decisioncanada/story.html?id=cdbe8c09-5c11-402f-9817-c321c4ff75a8
Another B.C. NDP candidate resigns over concerns about drug use
Sep 19, 2008
VANCOUVER — The federal New Democrats have lost their second pro-marijuana B.C. candidate in a matter of days.
Vancouver-Quadra candidate Kirk Tousaw, a lawyer and former campaign director for the B.C. Marijuana Party, resigned Friday afternoon.
In a statement, Tousaw said he's been compelled to resign because of the "events of the past few days," and the likelihood that his past work in drug reform could distract attention from the party's core issues.
Marijuana advocate Dana Larsen resigned as the NDP's candidate for West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast this week after online videos surfaced showing him smoking marijuana and dropping LSD.
Gerry Scott, the NDP's B.C. campaign director, says the party hopes to have a replacement for Tousaw in place by Saturday.
Scott said the party has no issue with candidates advocating less restrictive laws for marijuana, but felt there was a distinction when videos of a candidate using the drug were freely available.
canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5iIEiPmUaVUMF1zmUJARgyjFkRbdw