OTTAWA ­— Marijuana legalization activist Jodie Emery, a candidate for the Liberal nomination in the suddenly competitive Vancouver East riding, is raising questions about her leader’s honesty in committing to a wide-open nomination process across Canada.

The provocative comments this week from Emery, wife of so-called “Prince of Pot” Marc Emery, coincide with the release of internal Liberal polling results saying that the party has a shot at winning the Vancouver East riding now that NDP potentate Libby Davies is retiring.

But that’s only if Emery is not the candidate, according to polling data obtained by The Vancouver Sun.

Emery suggested in a wide-ranging and often disjointed interview that Trudeau and his top aides are nervous about her political ambitions.

Emery’s candidacy still must be approved by the Liberal “Green Light Committee,” which has considerable latitude under party rules to deny some Canadians the opportunity to run for a nomination.

She said she respects the party’s desire to make sure the best candidates run, and said she and her controversial husband, who last year completed a jail sentence in the U.S. on drug charges, will be loyal Liberal supporters even if she doesn’t take the nomination.

But then she pointed to recent media reports indicating that the Liberals, in some ridings, are actively discouraging some candidates in order to clear the way for so-called “stars.”

That, she suggested, would be a violation of Trudeau’s 2012 leadership campaign vow to hold only open nominations.

“I’m known for only speaking the truth, and anyone paying attention to the news can see that in some ridings the Liberal party seems to have preferred candidates,” she said.

“I can see why they’re nervous and trying to control the campaign from top to bottom.

“I just wish that Trudeau would stop saying they’re committed to open nominations in every riding, because again if you’re about truth, then that’s clearly not true.”

Party spokesman Olivier Duchesneau said a party vetting process that blocks some candidates for specific reasons set out in party rules does not mean the nomination process isn’t open.

“Open nominations does not mean that anyone can have their name on the ballot at the nomination meeting,” he said, adding that Canadians expect parties to do their “due diligence” on prospective candidates.

“We have always said that candidates need to follow a rigorous process and that they need approval from the Green Light Committee to go forward.”

It’s not the first time an Emery has challenged Trudeau’s truthfulness. In 2013, Marc Emery challenged in a blog post Trudeau’s assertion that the two men never got high together in a Vancouver restaurant in 2003.

Like her husband, who in December disparaged Jodie Emery’s three Liberal rivals for the nomination as “political dilettantes,” she also made critical comments about lawyer Edward Wong, former RCMP officer Richard Jaques, and wealthy philanthropist Joanne Griffiths, ex-wife of former Canucks owner Arthur Griffiths.

“When I review those sort of records compared to mine, with respect to political comments and involvement in issues relative to the riding, it seems I’ve been at it a little longer than they have,” she said.

“But to be fair, Joanne Griffiths (is) connected and moneyed, and that’s what the Liberals want. And insiders of the party will certainly get preference.”

Emery’s criticism of the party and leader she supports — extremely rare in Canadian politics for people seeking the party’s blessing to run — adds more weight to those Liberals who believe her candidacy will likely be blocked.

That sentiment would be strengthened if an internal Liberal party poll obtained Wednesday by The Vancouver Sun is taken seriously.

The mid-December poll of 503 Vancouver East residents said the NDP, which won the seat under Davies with a record-smashing 63 per cent of the vote in 2011, had the support of just 34 per cent of decided respondents.

The Liberals, who have won the riding twice since the 1930s, were within spitting distance at 27 per cent, while the Conservatives were at 23 per cent and the Greens 16 per cent.

But when respondents were asked about a specific scenario in which either New Democrat MLA Jenny Kwan or former Vancouver school trustee Sharon Gregson were running against Emery, the NDP jumped to 42 per cent while the Liberal backing dropped to 20 per cent — two percentage points below the Conservatives in one of Canada’s most left-wing ridings.

The poll, only parts of which were obtained by The Sun, is accurate to within 4.4 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

poneil@postmedia.com

Twitter.com/poneilinottawa

===

Click here to report a typo or visit vancouversun.com/typo.

Is there more to this story? We'd like to hear from you about this or any other stories you think we should know about. CLICK HERE or go to vancouversun.com/moretothestory