Maybe this Harper-as-PM Thing is a Good Thing

One of Stephen Harper's big planks in his election platform was introducing mandatory sentences for serious drug offenders. Some may view this is a reaction to the events in Alberta at the Roszko farm, in which 4 RCMP officers were killed while making a raid on a major-league grow-op. To that I say, "Good." It turns out that my stance is something that the King of Pot, Marc Emery, may disagree with, given that he's got a vested interest in drug dealers being allowed to run free in Canada. From the Toronto Star:

"He faces extradition charges by the U.S. in the B.C. Supreme Court resulting from the sale of marijuana seeds online, which is legal in Canada.
If the court agrees the U.S. has the right to extradite Emery, the case will go to the new Tory justice minister. Emery believes the minister will send him to the U.S., where he has been charged with conspiring to manufacture and distribute marijuana seeds and to engage in money laundering.
"The DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency) called me `the number one drug trafficking kingpin in Canada,'" Emery said. If he's convicted, the penalty could be steep. "I'm looking at 30 to 35 years.""

I'd be lying if I said that bothered me. Even if he gets off on the BC Supreme Court case, I hope that Harper moves quickly on the mandatory sentencing and that this creep gets locked away for a very long time.

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I have to give Ted Byfield in today's Calgary Sun a lot of credit for making this proposal to Harper for his first Speech from the Throne. It's got gusto and frankly, it would be a winner.

"Suppose he reasoned that now, rather than later, is the time to introduce the legislation the Liberals and most of the media don't like. This would include repealing the disastrous gun control law, restoring to the provinces the powers that Liberal governments have usurped, vastly strengthening the Armed Forces and regaining the confidence of the United States by restoring Canada's role in continental defence. Then there is cutting the GST to 6%, paying a day-care allowance to parents (rather than a federally-funded day-care system) and allowing a free vote on a bill to repeal the gay marriage law passed by the Liberals. Suppose he forgot about making "clever deals" for support with the Bloc or the NDP or anybody, and instead called the house, laid this program before Parliament in the Throne Speech and, bill by bill, introduced it all for first reading.
As abuse fell upon him from the other side of the house, he would have a ready reply: "We intend to act on our promises," he could say. "We are not like you. We do not regard promises made during an election campaign as inconsequential, as one of your former prime ministers once declared. We do what we say we're going to do.""

Knowing full well the fiscal state of the Liberal Party and the unwillingness of the electorate to go through yet another $250M election campaign, Harper would do well to follow this advice. He's been given a mandate and now is the time to start acting on it. I don't agree with everything that is in the platform, most notably SSM, though since Harper's bill would likely be defeated anyway, it makes sense to introduce it to mollify the so-cons and be forthright in his intentions. Once it goes down he can move on to the real issues. Chuck Strahl nails it right here:

Veteran Conservative MP Chuck Strahl believes all five of his party's priorities are "very doable." Like it or not, opposition leaders have a duty to accept that Canadians voted for the Conservative platform and should not be "obstructionist," he added.
"Primarily there's an obligation to try and make things work," he said. "If not this, then what? It would be hard for the government to say we're going to toss this out and go ahead with the Liberals' tax package. It would be illogical for the government to do that, and I don't know how another party could say we didn't get nearly the support we did in the election but we think we should still have our own way on this."

We're in for a very interesting and politically exciting next few months. Harper's going to be under the lens big-time, since the Liberals will in the next election campaign be running not on what Harper might do, but what he did do in his first mandate.