A new Forum Research poll suggests that an overwhelming number of Canadians are ready to see Canadians pardoned who have any criminal record for cannabis possession. According to the poll, at least half of Canadian voters believe that people should be released from jail who are there because of cannabis possession and they think that their criminal records should be expunged. Trudeau campaign heavily around the promise of legalization and his voters are ready to see some action.
The recent poll indicated that support for the pardons rises with young and low-income citizens, but even though this recent poll indicates that Canadians want to see it happen, the Liberals have stated that they aren’t open to the idea. The NDP also previously asked for the decriminalization of the same sort when it comes to the issue of cannabis in Canada, but the Liberals declined that call for action and they insist that Canadians need to wait until they roll-out their plans for legalization which are supposed to be fully unveiled by next year.
Public safety minister , Ralph Goodale, early this year stated that the pardon system needed to be overhauled because of how the previous Conservative administration had adapted it and supposedly replaced pardons with “record suspensions.” Goodale insisted that he was the one to be tasked with cleaning up the mess and overhauling the pardon approach. Canadians have been calling on Trudeau for months to address the cannabis issue and to move forward with immediate action in the way of decriminalization or pardons but they haven’t demonstrated yet that they are open to considering that approach.