HALIFAX—After getting an in-person apology, the Jamaican Cultural Association of Nova Scotia (JCANS) wants PC MLA Elizabeth Smith-McCrossin to make a formal apology in the legislature for her comments during a cannabis debate.

President Olive Phillips and members of the association’s board met last Thursday with Cumberland North MLA Elizabeth Smith-McCrossin, where they discussed recent comments Smith-McCrossin made about Jamaicans in the legislature during a cannabis legislation debate.

She told the assembly about her Jamaican friend who warned her legalized cannabis would make Nova Scotians less productive, as it has done to people in Jamaica.

“I have a best friend in Amherst who is from Jamaica. She said to me, ‘Elizabeth, smoking marijuana in Jamaica is completely accepted, and there’s a completely different work ethic and very low productivity in Jamaica.’ I think we already have a productivity problem here in Nova Scotia. We do not need something else making it worse,” she told the assembly.

The comments caused a backlash and Smith-McCrossin issued an apology. According to a news release from JCANS on Tuesday, Smith-McCrossin also apologized in person at their meeting.

“She was very emotional, too, because she didn’t realize how much damage her words had caused, and she really lamented that,” Phillips said in an interview.

Members of JCANS asked that she make a formal apology on the floor of the legislature, take diversity training and advocate the same for her colleagues.

In addition, they want her to support programs and projects for the development and awareness of the Jamaican community in Nova Scotia.

“I believe that you cannot stay mad and angry because it destroys you, it destroys the society. We have to harness the anger, turn it into constructive energy and do something,” Phillips said.

Phillips thinks it’s important to shed light on misconceptions, and she believes increasing awareness was the goal of their meeting.

“There are many others who need to be educated,” she said. “So that they will know a little bit more of what the truths are.”

Phillips is feeling optimistic in light of the meeting with Smith-McCrossin.

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“Together we (JCANS) were like one voice speaking out against what we thought was injustice,” Phillips said.

Smith-McCrossin did not respond to a request for interview by press time.

With files from Canadian Press

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