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economist suhsuntribune news saturday oct 23 2004 staff photosteve somerville vaughan liberal mp maurizio bevilacqua seen here celebrating his federal election win in june said prime minister paul martin should not have allowed quebec premier jean charest to represent canada on a trade mission vaughan liberal slams pm byroy green staff writer a day after accusing tory leader stephen harper of cozying up to quebec separatists vaughan liberal mp maurizio bevilacqua took a swing at hisown leader for allowing quebec pre- rhier jean charest to represent canada on a trade mission mr bevilacqua who was dropped from the federal cabinet soon after paul martin was elect ed said me prime minister was allowing que bee an unprecedented role in federal areas by allowing mr charest to accompany the french prime minister on a trip to mexico next month canadians recognize the federal govern ment speaks for canada he said in an inter view thursday that is our domain and there is no role for the provinces there mr bevilacqua is concerned the government will expand the concept of asymmetrical feder alism the unique status given quebec in the recently signed health accord between the fed- eral government arid provinces when some people suggest the health accord was an important precedent to expand into other federalprovincial areas i get worried he said earlier this week mr bevilacqua sent a letter to conservative leader stephen harper accus ing him of trying to dismantle the country in league with quebec separatists the letter followed a speech mr harper made in quebec last weekend in which he speculated some current federal responsibilities might be better handled on a regional basis or even by lan guage as the leader of a national party he hasnt thought through the role of the federal govern ment mr bevilacqua said canadians expect a strong and effective fed eral government they dont want any further devolution the whole issue is quite divisive and illconceived yorksimcoe conservative mp peter van loan dismissed mr bevilacquas comments saying the former cabinet minister is simply positioning himself for a future run at the prime ministers office obviously mr bevilacqua feels isolated out of the cabinet and is preparing for a leadership run mr van loan said and we dont need to take lessons in national unity from a guy who has advocated currency union with the united states as mr bevilacqua has feds probing how seized pot equipment auctioned off reused by martin derbyshire staff writer the federal ministry of public works and govern ment services is investi gating how marijuana growing equipment seized in police raids ended up back at a whitchurchstouffville pot operation it is our policy to destroy all hydroponic marijuana growing equipment and contami nated equipment which is seized by police min istry spokesperson jack kprwin said the minister scott brison has asked us to do a thorough investiga tion to find out exactly what happened here because it is our policy that equipment like this wouldnt be resold he said the genera tors dehumidifiers and fans that turned up in raids of a largescale grow operation aug 11 must have slipped through the cracks the equipment had been previously seized in marijuana raids by york halton and london police over the past six years it turned out the confis cated items had been auc tioned off by a private liq uidation company on behalf of the federal agency responsible for the management of drug paraphernalia confiscated by police services across the country appalled by the dis covery york regional police chief armand la barge urged the ministry to change the legislation so all equipment confis cated from marijuana grow operations is destroyed this is not the first time officers have seen previously seized equip ment back on the streets he said obviously this stuff is finding its way back on to the auction lists chief la barge said were seeing crates of fans and dehumidifiers being sold for less than 10 and thats frustrating for police officers that its finding its way back into the criminals hands- at such bargain basement prices were seeing crates of fans and dehumidifiers being sold for less than 10 and thats frustrating for police officers the public works ministry understands chief la barges frustra tions but it may not need to change the policy on seized equipment mr korwinsaid in the past we have donated hydroponic equipment to not-for- profit groups who can use it like a botanical gardens for instance but its not supposed to be purchased for criminal belinda stronach selling seized growop equipment wrong york region mp says use our policy is to destroy it he said the ministry has imposed a moratorium on the sale of equipment used in marijuana grow ing operations mr kor- win added although no timeline for the investigation has been discussed this case is a priority for the ministry mr korwin said chief la barge has been in contact with mr brison and was pleased to see the ministry has acted quickly however hes still hoping the gov ernment hears his pleas for permanent changes whether they need a change in policy or its just a misinterpretation at the end of the day this stuff should not be sold at public auction chief la barge said it just makes sense that you simply take it out of circulation newmarketaurora mp belinda stronach supports chief la barges recommendations here you have on one hand equipment being seized in the fight against drugs and then you turn around and its being resold back to the public and being used to produce more drugs this is wrong and i strongly support the chief on this she said it is also wrong for the liberal government to be moving toward decrimi- ricuizing marijuana ms strbnachsaid v there is an obvious health and safety risk with the drugi decriminaliza tion could create future problems at the united states border and it does nothing to stem the grow ing tide of marijuana pro duction around york region and the rest of the country ms stronach said ecco blowout sale 50 hallcrown placetoronto thursday october 1 4th sunday october 24th 2004 finoiavte steward art e 2 i 1 cttisumtram 1 i s y mf 9arrv8pm satsun 9am5pm jt