(South Korean and Japanese citizens will not be allowed to smoke marijuana in Canada, even though it is legal here)
Marijuana, or weed, was legalized in Canada, as of October 17, 2018. Far from the most controversial legislation is has passed since getting elected in 2015. While the substance will for now still be regulated, for all practical purposes it is completely legal. A number of developments from this are happening.
First, is that the Canadian government intends to make it easier to apply for a pardon for those with a pot conviction. This similar to prior moves years ago which pardoned gays and lesbians for consensual sexual acts.
Second, it remains to be seen how the economy will be effected by this legislation. There has been widespread speculation that it will boost economic growth. The details are outside the scope of this article, though more information is coming available.
Third, the United States says it intends to ban those who smoke cannabis, or even those who invest in the product, such as stock or bond holders. While the U.S. does have the right to refuse entry to anyone it wishes, this does raise 2 interesting questions: (a) how would Border Control even find out; (b) does it infringe on citizens doing lawful activity abroad? In later versions of the story, the U.S. is said to be backing off on that proposal — at least for now.
Fourth, and probably the most interesting here is that South Korea has formally declared that any of its citizens who smoke weed may be arrested. This applies even in Canada, where the act itself is legal. South Korean citizens are subjected to its laws regardless of where they are in the world. Japan has done the same, warning citizens that they may be subjected to home laws even while abroad.
As an aside, it would be interesting to know how the officials would ever learn about it. However, people today do brag about just about everything online. Also, given the distance, bringing witnesses for a criminal trial may prove difficult.
Furthermore, could a Korean or Japanese national smoke weed, and then claim asylum here, on grounds that they are being persecuted? This sounds absurd, but not outside the realm of possibility.
The Japanese and South Korea model stand in stark contrast to Canadian, American, and other Western nations, who oblige their citizens to follow the laws of wherever they happen to be at that time.
Fifth, and also worth noting, Russia has condemned the move as hypocritical. The Russian government says that legalization flies in the face of several anti-narcotic treaties, and does and end run around those agreements. Canada was a party to the following:
CLICK HERE, for the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs.
CLICK HERE, for the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties.
CLICK HERE, for the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances.
CLICK HERE, for the 1988 Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances.
Russia has a valid point. The legalization push by the Trudeau government “will” undoubtedly make anti-drug matters more complicated. After all, how committed can Canada be to fighting the marijuana trade considering the substance is legal here?
The October 17 legalization will bring a number of challenges both here and abroad. Too early to say where things will go, but there will almost certainly be a followup article on at least one of these points.
James Joseph DeAngelo, the so-called “Golden State Killer”, has been caught using a very controversial method: genealogical DNA testing. See here, and here. DeAngelo is accused of committing rapes and murders over many years.
The short explanation of the method is this: When a person submits a DNA sample to a genealogical organization (and pays the fee), it is done with the intention of learning more about their biological relatives. Even previously known and distant relatives can be found. 2nd, 3rd, and even 4th cousins can now be identified using this technique.
Quite understandably, people submitting DNA to ancestory organizations do so in order to see who they might be related to. Certainly, no one does so with the intention of providing evidence or at least a lead against other distant relatives. This was never meant to be a police tool.
(4th Amendment)
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
But here, it gets a bit more complicated. Even if one argues that using DNA set aside for genealogical testing violates that person’s 4th Amendment rights, it is that person’s rights being violated, not the actual target’s rights.
Understandably, many are upset over a clear breach of their agreement.
While DeAngelo certainly deserves to be caught and tried, the method of DNA identification sends chills to many. It will be interesting to see what, if any policies and laws come as a result of this. There will likely be a followup article
Kudos to Rants Derek for his suggestion to cover this topic. Derek is a Canadian YouTuber, with his own style of humour in creating videos. Go watch his stuff.
This topic has to do with a fairly straightforward topic: Do you need I.D. to vote? For extra information, here is more information on other countries.
Canadian:
There are “options” when it comes to showing I.D., the information is available here.
(Option 1) Show 3 pieces of I.D.
(Option 2) 2 pieces of “I.D.” as long as something has your address on it. These “forms” include: library card, utility bill, credit card bill, or a variety of other documents.
(Option 3) If you don’t meet the “requirements” of Option 2, you can just swear or affirm an oath, and get someone to vouch for you.
Note: Provinces have their own requirements, this just focuses on Federal elections.
American:
Voting requirements appear to be left to the individual states to decide. Definitely a range:
(Option 1) Strict photo ID – Wisconsin, Kansas, Virginia
(Option 2) Non-Strict Photo ID — Arizona, North Dakota, Ohio
(Option 3) Photo ID Requested — Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas
(Option 4) ID Requested — Washington State, Iowa, Alaska
(option 5) No Documents at all — California, Nevada, Oregon
That is correct, in about 1/3 of states, no ID required at all to vote
British:
Almost unbelievably, there are no mandatory voter ID laws, although there are pilot projects underway to change that.
However, that is currently being challenged.
Australian:
In Australia, you are asked a few questions prior to voting, but ID isn’t required. Voting is mandatory, but ID is not required. Like the UK, efforts are being made to have a nationwide requirement for voting. And like the UK, that also is being challenged.
New Zealander:
Like Australia, voting is mandatory for citizens and permanent residents. However, citizens away for 3+ years, and permanent residents away for 1+ years cannot vote. ID is not necessary, just present you voting card.
Some Thoughts
The above list covered 5 English speaking, Common Law countries. It seems a bit unsettling to see that, aside from some U.S. states, ID is not necessary.
Seems that this type of system is ripe for abuse. If no ID is required, or no photo ID needed, then what is to stop large groups of people from potentially altering elections?
Critics of photo ID requirements claim that it discriminates against poor and marginalized people, and that there is no documented cases of abuse.
However, those arguments do not hold water. (1) If people are to be entrusted with voting on the future of a nation, then are we to expect that legal residents cannot get any ID whatsoever? (2) There may be no documented cases of abuse. Though if voters are undocumented, as lefties like to call them, then how would there be any documentation in the first place?
Clearly, each nation will have their own ways of doing things, but it appears that some safeguard must be put in place to ensure that the integrity of democratic systems is intact.
Well, depending on where you go, you will get a very different answer. Do you have to be of good character? Can you currently vote while in prison? Do you even have to be a citizen?
This topic could fill several books, but this is just a starter piece. The article focuses on 2 main areas: criminality and non-citizenship
Canada, Criminality:
The Canada Elections Act of 1985 used to prohibit a person from being able to vote if they are serving a federal sentence (2 years or more). However, that was struck down in 2002. The Crown conceded it violated Section 3 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, that everyone had the right to vote in elections to govern the country. To be fair though, the dissenting Justices thought that the violations were reasonable. As things stand now, even persons in custody are allowed to vote, and jail officials must make accommodation for them to do so.
American, Criminality
The case of Richardson v. Ramirez (1974), held that the 14th Amendment, Section 2, was not violated in barring felons form voting (called felony disenfranchisement). Since then, the 50 states have written their own laws, and they widely vary widely, from Maine, which allows voting while incarcerated, to voting after release, to Idaho and voting after probation ends, to never voting, to Florida requiring a petition.
Australian, Criminality
Things are a bit different here. For starters, voting is mandatory. There are arguments both for and against it. In the past, anyone serving a sentence of 1 year or more was unable to vote. As it stands now, only those serving a sentence of at least 3 years cannot vote until the sentence is finished.
British, Criminality
The UK is having to revise their policies on letting prisoners and convicts vote, because of the European Court of Human Rights. Originally, they couldn’t, but that is changing. Interestingly, Members of Parliament can keep their seat if they have been sentenced to 1 year or less. So they could hold office, but not vote.
Much Europe has some restriction of voting rights, such as type of offense, and is the sentence fully served.
Laws vary widely around the world. However, the main argument against letting cons, or ex-cons vote is that they have violated the social contract with the people, and hence should not be a part of forming its laws.
Voting by Non-Citizens
While this list is too extensive to go through, many countries do allow permanent residents to vote if they have lived their for a long enough period.
One argument against letting non-citizens vote is that it weakens what it means to be a citizen. What then, distinguishes a citizen from a resident? A second is that the longer time to obtain citizenship is necessary to fully adapt to the new homeland. A third is that it leads to divided loyalty from Members of Parliament/Congress, who will look towards future voters more than current ones. All have some merit.
A push over the years from leftist politicians has been to let “undocumented immigrants” (a.k.a.) “illegal immigrants” vote in elections, as well as to reduce or eliminate voter identification requirements.
Note: Women are now allowed to vote in Western countries as well as many others. New Zealand and Australia led the way.
Author’s Views:
However, things do, or at least should have a limit.
(1) There have been many challenges to Voter ID laws, claiming that it discriminates against people who can’t get identification. The usual claim is wither poverty, or that the community lacks these services. Really, a legal citizen, or at least permanent resident can’t get I.D.?! Of course, if they are “undocumented”, that may be why they can’t get “documents”.
(2)So-called “Sanctuary Cities” are letting illegal immigrants vote which seems bizarre. Why should people in the country illegally be helping to vote in people to draft laws? Seems like a serious conflict of interest here.
It seems that items (1) and (2) are very much linked. Could objecting to voter I.D. requirements be to enable, or help cover up, illegal immigrants voting? Hard to say, there is no “documentation”. Could it be to help “elect” candidates who would push for more immigration and easier citizenship paths?
As for convicts voting, obviously everyone has different ideas. My personal choice would be: (a) not while in jail or parole; and (b) not for serious crimes such as murder/treason/terrorism/drug trafficking/sex offenses.
(Conservative writer and YouTuber, Dr. Steve Turley, promoting his new book)
“The New Nationalism, How the Populist Right is Defeating Globalism and Awakening a New Political Order” was just released and is available online. The title is pretty self explanatory, as nations across the world are pushing hard to maintain their identities and sovereignties. Not only do nations and people want autonomy over their lands, they want to see their own cultures intact and thriving. It is a fairly quick at 78 pages, but is packed with information. While he acknowledges that globalists do make occasional advances, they are more of the exception, and that the general trend is towards nationalism.
Before getting too much into the book, let’s take a moment to acknowledge 2 sets of ideas hotly debated currently:
In many ways they are same argument: Is a nation defined as “who the people are” or by “what they believe”?
Those pushing for a greater unity, ethno-nationalist, argue that who the people are matters, be it: heritage, culture, common language, traditions, way of life, and often ancestry, are the necessary elements for a cohesive society. EN is commonly thought to be a racial supremacist ideology, but that just isn’t the case.
Those pushing for greater freedom and individuality, civic nationalist, are much more likely to believe in the multicultural way of life. The cohesive unity that ethno-nationalists stress is not nearly as important as more abstract beliefs such as freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of association, and acceptance rather than assimilation of newcomers.
Civic nationalists claim (rightly), that their society promotes tolerance and diversity. Ethno nationalists claim (rightly), that there is nothing that holds them together, and that people will just form groups which do reflect their identities. These 2 ideologies are in fact arguing different things.
Within ethno-nationalism, there is a segment that believes that blood is the single biggest unifier (race). This is often referred to as “the Alt-Right”. Another group believer that other shared traits (culture), are what holds societies together, sometimes called “the Alt-Lite”. One group believes the other to be racist, while the other believes that group to be unrealistic.
In the book, “The New Nationalism”, Dr. Turley is quite clearly arguing a form of nationalism that focuses on a shared culture and traditions, while race itself is not important (Alt-Lite).
The book covers in depth 9 countries across the world: (1) Hungary; (2) Poland; (3) Bulgaria; (4) Italy; (5) Denmark; (6) Russia; (7) Turkey; (8) India; and (9) the United States. Now, for some key passages:
2. Quotes From Book
All over the world, a nationalist revolution is underway. In the past 17 years, the actual number of nationalist and populist parties across the European continent has nearly doubled, growing from 33 to 63.1 And these parties are seeing extraordinary electoral success. The share of votes won by populist parties in Europe has tripled in the course of such time, from 8.5 percent of the European vote to nearly 25 percent.
FIRST TAKEAWAY: The opening paragraph gets right to the point. Using Europe as a model, nationalism is on the rise, and that the # of political parties is rising, as is the % of the popular vote they are receiving. In fact, the first five Chapters deal with European countries where nationalism is still rising: Hungary; Poland; Bulgaria; Italy; and Denmark.
>However, for what I’m calling here the New Nationalism, the communist threat is of course gone, as is any notion of biological racial superiority.
SECOND TAKEAWAY: That the growing nationalism here is built on shared customs, cultures, etc… and that race is not the driving motivation.
Because globalization eclipses the nation-state with wider transnational economic and political processes, many scholars believe that globalization is bringing an end to the whole concept of distinct nations.
THIRD TAKEAWAY: Globalism is a threat to nations because it attempts to break down what actually makes nations distinct.
…. that Orban wants to create an authoritarian theocracy. In fact, nothing can be farther from the truth. As Orban makes clear, Christian democracies absolutely affirm a separation of powers between church and state. The church and the state are wholly unique and distinctive institutions. But what makes Christian democracies different from globalist societies is that while they recognize a separation of powers between church and state, they don’t recognize a separation of purpose.
FOURTH TAKEAWAY: While nations like Hungary may want to maintain a Christian nation, it will not lead to autocratic rule.
open borders mean open values. And so, what does this mean for the EU’s immigration quotas? Very simply, mass unfettered immigration fulfills the political precondition for more liberal democratic social policies. The less secure a nation’s borders, the less secure a nation’s customs and culture.
FIFTH TAKEAWAY: Mass immigration will actually lead to the break down of society. If any and all people and their customs are welcome, then what makes a nation unique? This is actually the main argument against multiculturalism.
However, Poland has no shortage of detractors, particularly in Brussels. One critic accused Poland of “abdicating” its leading role in Central Europe by refusing to bend to the EU’s demands on migrant quotas and internal judicial reforms. But in the process of making these observations, she ended up admitting that the nation of Poland poses a greater existential threat to the EU than does Brexit.22
When the Poles didn’t, Article 7 was enacted to try to strip Poland’s voting rights away.
SIXTH TAKEAWAY: Interesting, that for all the praise that the EU gives to diversity and multiculturalism, it seems they have to force member states like Poland to comply. This is an attempt to overrun their sovereignty and impose laws on them. How exactly is Poland an independent country if it “bends the knee”?
What Salvini is advocating here is but the latest chapter of a history of what scholars call the internationalizing of the nationalist right. While leaders in the nationalist right have focused primarily on local and national elections, they all recognize that transnational politics are in many ways just as equally important, because the ultimate adversary in all of this is globalization, and globalization is by definition transnational.
SEVENTH TAKEAWAY: While individual nations are taking back their autonomy, there is a collective good in such nations working together to do so.
>With communism dead, something even more compelling, more deeply rooted in the Russian soul would have to take its place. And that is the real contribution of Vladimir Putin; he found that the way forward for Russians would be a return, a retraditionalization that would involve reawakening Russia’s pre-Soviet history, her culture, traditions, customs, and Orthodox religion that would serve as the foundation for a rebirth and renewal of Russian civilization.
EIGHTH TAKEAWAY: Russia, facing more and more break off portions, was able to keep itself fairly intact because it focused on what the various regions and people had in common. Putin has said many times, “we are of many ethnicities, but we are Russian first.”
Putin does not celebrate a secularized vision of human rights irrespective of culture; he doesn’t affirm a notion of civil rights that favors certain races, genders, and sexual orientations. Rather, the rights, protections, and freedoms experienced by citizens of the Russian Federation are the direct result of a distinctively Russian culture, religion, society, and sentiments.
NINETH TAKEAWAY: Identity politics is bad. Focusing on collective identity is good. Simple enough.
However, there is one section that seems puzzling.
For example, there have been reports of forced conversion attempts on Christian families in Indian villages by Hindu nationalists, the desecration of churches, and actual physical violence and assaults against Christians, Muslims, and Buddhists. These are of course unacceptable in any humane society. But what we have to understand is that, unfortunately, such acts of religious persecution are really just par for the course given the fact that secularism is seen more and more as that ideology that persecutes a nation’s dominant religious identity….. To just defer to good ol’ fashioned secular human rights such as religious freedom, as our Western elites like to do, does absolutely nothing to remedy this problem, but I believe has the reverse effect; it employs rhetoric that only exasperates it.
Perhaps I am missing something, but wouldn’t this be a compelling argument in favour of secularism? If physical violence and religious persecution are “par for the course”, wouldn’t taking religion out of the way of life make things safer for everyone? For example, the Western World has seen repeatedly what “devout practitioners” from Islam are capable of doing.
3. Overall Impression
The New Nationalism is a very informative read. 9 countries are gone through in depth, although many more are mentioned in the introduction. The author has clearly put a lot effort into the research and presentation. While there are exceptions, the overall path seems to be towards nationalism and against globalism.
4. Relevance To This Site
Canucklaw.ca is founded on the idea of discussing and examining comparative law. As such, ideas and systems — good and bad — are looked at. If nationalism is to be the major trend (and the evidence says it will), then new laws are certain to be introduced. Likewise, there are likely to be many court challenges and appeals, as the nationalists and globalists fight it out. This should be a fertile source for research and commentary.
Currently, we have: (1) Parliament appoints to cabinet based on gender quotas; (2) criticism of Islam is banned; (3) compelled speech for gender pronouns; (4) Pro-Life candidates are banned from running for office in certain parties; (5) summer jobs grants are denied for wrongthink; (6) opposition to ISIS fighters returning is considered islamophobia; (7) asking about costs for illegal immigration is considered racist; (8) murders of citizens by “Syrian refugees” is laughed off; (9) Diversity is entropy, and apparently, breaking down society is our strength; (10) discussing the challenges of multiculturalism gets condemned by “Conservatives”; (11) $10.5 Million for a this terrorist; (12) $31 million for these accused terrorists; (13) Canada apparently has no core identity; (14) “Old -Stock” Canadians should apparently be replaced; (15) Pride parades which are outright lewd; (16) Showing tolerance and inclusion at Pride, by banning police; (17) Statues of our founder Sir John A. MacDonald taken down; (18) Parks named after foreign founders; (19) ”Gender neutral” national anthem; (20) ”peoplekind” instead of mankind, and so on….
Back to the Nationalism (Identity) v.s. Multiculturalism (Values) mentioned earlier, it was mused that globalists don’t want an identity, that there only be certain “values”. However, it seems that many don’t even want “values”, as they would require logic and consistent standards to apply them.
There are some interesting postings from Candice Malcom: CLICK HERE, and CLICK HERE,
Canada has a federal election on October 19, 2019. If there is a nationalist candidate who might win, it would look something like this, or this, or this, or possibly this or this or this, or this, or maybe this.
Canada needs a rise in nationalism. If multiculturalism actually worked — anywhere — we would not need an ever expanding set of laws telling us how to live, and how to accommodate radically different people. Perhaps Dr. Turley can one day do such a book (or a second edition) on Canada
(Screenshot of the Main Page of New Zealand’s “Clean slate Scheme”)
What happens to a person long after committing a criminal offense? Once a person has paid all obligations (prison, probation, fine) the charge still follows them around, right? Well, yes and no. While the convictions themselves do not disappear, there are options for getting the person back into society. Since a record limits people’s prospect for travel, work, education, adoption, etc… there are ways to get around this depending on the circumstances.
This article looks at 5 Common Law Countries: (a) UK; (b) US; (c) Canada; (d) Australia; and (e) New Zealand.
(a) UK: Spent convictions
Here is a link to the U.K. branch. The 1974 rehabilitation of offenders act refers to charges as ”spent” or ”unspent”. Spent charges are to have no impact on the person in most circumstances.
The waiting period differs. For example, community orders are spent a year after they are completed. Custody sentences range from 2 years, to 4 years, to 7 years, to permanently ineligible.
Also, the act has been amended. It used to be 30 months was the cut off period for charges being spent. It is now 48 months (4 years).
This is still largely a political process, and can be done at the State level (by a Governor), or at the Federal level (by the President). Critics however believe that it largely leads to political and connected people getting the break. Those with minor charges do still get them often.
For summary (misdemeanors) it is 5 years after the sentence is served
For indictable (felonies) it is 10 years after sentence is served.
In 2010 the rules were changed to prevent longer term and series criminals from getting their records sealed. Notorious pedophile Graham James discovered to have gotten one. This was 2010, and the rallying cry for reform became ”pass these reforms, or Karla Homolka also gets a pardon”.
However, those have been struck down for Ontario and BC residents, at least as far as those who finished a sentence before 2010. See here.
Note: to Canadian traveller’s going to the US — Homeland Security specifically says it does not recognise a Canadian pardon/suspension and a waiver must still be applied for.
One other thing of note: there are restrictions on those who can get one, (a) anyone serving a life sentence; (b) anyone declared a dangerous offender; (c) those with 3 or more felonies if they resulted in 2+ years in prison; (d) sex offences are still flagged in vulnerable persons checks; (e) drug trafficking if still flagged in U.S. access.
This scheme only refers to NZ society, and acknowledges that it isn’t recognized in many other places.
In order to be eligible, no jail sentence must ever have been imposed.
SOME THOUGHTS
This looked at 5 Common Law Countries: UK/US/Australia/New Zealand and Canada. While the result is much the same, one major difference is that the US system seems to be politically based.
Still, good news for those looking to move on. Doing something stupid (any fairly minor), shouldn’t be a lifetime hinderance for people looking to rebuild their lives.
In almost all circumstances, a pardon/suspension/spending can be revoked if the person commits more crimes. Makes sense, as its intended use is for people who have moved on. According to sources within the Canadian justice system, 96% of people who get a record seal do not commit other crimes. That is 24 out of every 25 people. Being able to clear a record is helpful for the vast majority of people.
Understandably, it does upset some people that ex-cons are able to seal or move on afterwards. In particular, many victims and their families take issue with this. And depending on the circumstances, they are absolutely right. However, these options seem much more geared towards minor offences and not towards serious, repeat offenders.
The 5 Common Law countries listed here all have this option, to varying degrees. Not sure where else it exists, but worth a close look.
