One of the country’s biggest advocates in the push to legalize marijuana has a new plan to take her fight to Ottawa.
The so-called "Princess of Pot" Jodie Emery – the wife of jailed marijuana activist Marc Emery -- intends to run for the Liberal nomination in East Vancouver.
"I think with the Liberal party endorsing legalization, the benefit is just too great for all Canadians. I have to put my name behind endorsing that party,” she told CTV News.
The businesswoman admits she’s not a typical politician, and that people “are confused” about where she fits into the political spectrum.
Emery ran as the Green candidate in Vancouver-Fraserview in the 2009 B.C. provincial election.
“I don't really know where to pin myself. I have run with the Green Party, but I'm a fiscal conservative. I could be called a Libertarian, I am a capitalist. I do believe in taxpayer-funded education, healthcare and some other basic necessities but I think there's a lot of waste in government," she said.
The riding association for Vancouver East has asked her to join the nomination process, which would mean she could go head-to-head with longtime NDP MP Libby Davies – who has supported her husband in the past.
Federal Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau’s announcement last year that he supports regulating and taxing marijuana changed things for Emery.
With the Tories attacking Trudeau and sticking with their hard line anti-pot policy, it seems a natural fit for Emery to join forces with the Grits.
But she admits she has a long road before it’s up to voters.
“This isn't a situation of the party reaching out to me from Trudeau or Ottawa, this is something from the riding association,” she said.
Emery should know within a few months if the party gives her the green light, with plenty of lead time ahead of the 2015 federal election.
With a report from CTV Vancouver’s Penny Daflos
