The United States approved Marc’s prison transfer request to finish his sentence in Canada, but the Canadian Public Safety Minister, Steven Blaney, has not approved Marc’s application yet! There is no deadline for a response, so we need supporters to politely and constantly ask the Minister to sign Marc’s transfer forms.

Marc was ordered extradited to the United States in May 2010 by the Conservative Government of Canada, and detained to await sentencing in a Seattle federal court on September 10th, where he was given a five-year prison term for selling marijuana seeds and funding political activism campaigns.

For that reason, we’re choosing Tuesday, September 10th as a “Phone Call Campaign” to encourage Minister Blaney to approve Marc’s request to come home. Please be polite when calling the four phone numbers listed for Public Saftey Minister and Member of Parliament Steven Blaney (pronounced “blay-nee”). It could be useful to have some of the basic facts about Marc, which have been posted here at the FreeMarc.ca website.

PHONE NUMBERS TO CALL:

613-992-7434 (Parliament Hill office)

418-830-0500 (Constituency Office #1)

418-625-2626 (Constituency Office #2)

613-944-4875 or 1-800-830-3118 (Public Safety Ministry office)

You can read aloud the following (either to the secretary who will answer the phone, or to the voice mail recording) or you can say something similar, based on how you feel about what has happened to Marc – but please remember to always be polite! And if you ask for an official response (which will require you leave your contact information) the office staff will have to use time and resources to reply, so they might be more inclined to tell the Minister to approve Marc’s transfer so they can get back to their normal workload!

“I’m calling to leave a message with Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney. I am requesting that he approve the prison transfer request of Canadian Marc Emery, who has been imprisoned in the United States since 2010. The Minister has had Marc Emery’s transfer application paperwork since earlier this year, and the United States’ federal government has already approved Marc’s request. Please make sure that the Minister knows that I, and many others, want Marc Emery brought home to Canada as soon as possible so he can finish his prison sentence closer to his wife, friends, and family.”

Faxes and letters are also useful, as they are physical copies of paper that the Minister is supposed to receive and review. Please remember to keep your message very short and simple so that it’s more likely to be read. You can also ask for a response by phone, email, fax or letter, but be sure to include your contact information.

FAX NUMBERS:

418-830-0504

418-625-4663

613-995-6856

Hon. Steven Blaney, Minister of Public Safety

House of Commons

Ottawa, ON

K1A 0A6

Canada

(Note: no postage required for mail to the House of Commons)

Hon. Steven Blaney, Minister of Public Safety

115 President Kennedy Road, Suite 101

Lévis, Québec

G6V 6C8

Canada

Hon. Steven Blaney, Minister of Public Safety

1516-D Route 277

Lac-Etchemin, Québec

G0R 1S0

Canada

Email: [email protected] Member of Parliament website

When Will Marc Be Free From Prison?

To read Marc’s prison blog about being approved for transfer by the United States government – including details about when he could be home and how the process might unfold – please click here to read it at CannabisCulture.com.