Choosing who to work with

It won't come as news to a lot of people that the founder of the Marijuana Party of Canada quit earlier this year to join the Liberals, concluding that the most likely path toward legalization lay with a governing party that seemed sympathetic to his cause. At that time, Marc-Boris St. Maurice said that:

"I think there is wide support for marijuana reform within the Liberal Party and I am confident that a large proportion of these silent supporters will come forward once the issue is pressed."

Think St. Maurice is regretting the decision now?

The Liberal government's controversial bill to decriminalize marijuana will be shelved until after the next election, CTV News has learned...

(O)fficials say the Liberals are content to leave marijuana reform on the backburner, which could mean it will be many more years before there is another attempt to decriminalize marijuana.

Obviously any attempts to rally support in the Liberal caucus have been utterly futile - any "silent supporters" have stayed as silent as ever. That's all the more sad since there's enough support from the NDP and the Bloc to pass a decriminalization bill if it was seriously put forward, particularly if it included a sensible amnesty. Instead, all St. Maurice won by allying himself with the Libs was a lengthy delay in his cause...and maybe worse if the Cons are able to take power in the meantime.

Interestingly, the best chance for decriminalization in the near future may come if either the Bloc or the NDP puts forward a private member's bill which the Liberals choose not to oppose. But if the Libs are determined to bury the issue (as seems likely since they wouldn't want credit going elsewhere if they're abandoning the cause themselves), then that won't be allowed to happen during the fall session either.

The moral of the story: anybody actually wanting to push forward a cause should avoid the Liberal Party at all costs. Because among the Libs, positive change is always on the backburner.