More than seven years after cannabis was legalized, the Marijuana Party has officially been deregistered by Elections Canada.
Founded 25 years ago, the party was a longtime advocate for legalizing the sale, purchase and consumption of marijuana. The party ran multiple candidates in each of the last nine federal elections and, while no Marijuana candidate ever won a seat in the House of Commons, the party received as many as 66,310 votes in the 2000 election.
However, the party only ran two candidates in this past year’s election, receiving a combined 133 votes — equivalent to 0.001 per cent of the federal vote share.
In a statement, Elections Canada said the party was deregistered for “not complying with the requirement to provide at least 250 membership declarations” during a review conducted under the Canada Elections Act. As a result, it will no longer be able to issue tax receipts for donations or receive any other benefits afforded to official parties.
According to the party’s website, leader Blair Longley was only able to submit 101 membership declarations.
“It has always gotten harder every time to keep the party registered,” read a statement from Longley. “Although we would have liked to keep the party registered, it was no longer possible.”
“…[I]t is no longer possible to successfully ask strangers on the street to support the Marijuana Party by signing Membership Declarations, because the original reason for doing so no longer exists, and everyone knows it: ‘marijuana is legal.’”
Read the full story at iPolitics
