EDMONTON—A national advocacy group is backing MLA Derek Fildebrandt’s call to grant full pardons to Canadians convicted of simple marijuana possession.

Fildebrandt, an independent MLA, raised the issue in Alberta’s legislature Monday, asking the government to pressure Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to grant pardons as the issue falls under federal jurisdiction.

“That would be awesome if they could do that, if they could exert a little bit of pressure on the prime minister to get that ball rolling,” said Carolyn Tinglin, president of the National Association of Cannabis Professionals.

Tinglin said Black Canadians and other marginalized communities have been disproportionately convicted of cannabis crimes and are still suffering the social and financial consequences.

“The bottom line is, we are discrediting and further marginalizing individuals when we’re sitting in an environment where cannabis is legal and yet they are still affected,” she said.

Tinglin said Alberta’s retail regulations are more equitable than in other provinces, as the Alberta government has stated that a minor marijuana possession charge will not automatically disqualify someone from owning a cannabis shop.

Still, she said cannabis charges can be a major barrier for many who are interested in various roles within the industry but face criminal background checks.

“We’re really excluding a number of people who could potentially help the industry to flourish, and really contribute in a positive way to the industry, and really be reflective of the mosaic that we know to be Canada,” Tinglin said.

“I think it would be a shame not to push for that and to not try to correct some of the damage that has already been done.”

Trudeau said in January that he will reflect on the possibility of pardons once Canada has a “legalized and controlled regime in place,” but not before that time.

Tinglin’s group is pushing for a commitment to be made sooner.

She said the federal government did not bring in anyone from a “diversity perspective” to help craft the pot laws, or anyone from the legal community who specialized in cannabis convictions, but she believes there is still time to do so.

“That’s the ultimate goal, that it becomes part of the fabric of legalization,” Tinglin said.

“We don’t think that it should be separate from it, because it’s a big deal. It’s affected a lot of people. It’s kind of the eyesore on legalization.”

Fildebrandt compared the scenario to Drumheller-Stettler MLA Rick Strankman being pardoned after he was convicted of illegally taking 756 bushels of wheat south of the border in 2002 in protest of the Canadian Wheat Board’s monopoly.

Former prime minister Stephen Harper pardoned Strankman 10 years later, after the federal government’s Marketing Freedom for Grain Farmers Act came into effect, which allowed producers to opt out of the Canadian Wheat Board and sell the product on the open market.

“I don’t think of this as a particularly left-right ideological issue,” Fildebrandt told StarMetro.

“I believe this is a natural part of the process when we move laws forward. Even if some people don’t agree with legalization, we should agree on the principle that if it’s no longer a criminal act, you shouldn’t have a criminal record following you around for it.”

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Fildebrandt left the UCP to sit as an independent following an expense scandal last summer, and party leader Jason Kenney barred him from rejoining in February after he pleaded guilty to illegally shooting a deer on private land.

Justice Minister Kathleen Ganley, in response to Fildebrandt’s query in the legislature, said the issue “would be of interest to many people in Alberta” but it is a decision for the federal government to make.

A spokesperson for Ganley said Tuesday she had no further comment.

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