On August 23rd of this year, police in Slocan raided a marijuana plantation outside of the town, seizing over 600 plants, and making three arrests.
Now, this news wouldn't get much of a reaction - considering the sheer volume of grow-op busts and arrests our 6 billion dollar a year weed industry generates; it also at first doesn't sound as wild as some of our more memorable busts (my favorite all time is the semi truck at the ferry) - until the news of who was arrested got out.
You see, it turns out that two of the growers arrested were the son and husband of the current Slocan Mayor, Madeleine Perriere.
According to CBC, poor Maddie had no idea that her family was involved in such nefarious activities, and she has decided not to step down, stating that this is a family issue, not a professional one.
Um, no. Wrong.
I wouldn't want to say that just because someone holds a government office, that their entire lives, and the lives of their families, should become public knowledge, and to be fair, if the arrestee was a distant cousin, or back-country uncle, I wouldn't bat an eye. But we're not talking about some distant relative, only seen at the five year family reunion - we're talking spouse and offspring. And it's not like they cheated on their taxes - they were growing and exporting illegal drugs.
(sure sure, it's only pot right? The substance isn't the point - it's the blatant disregard for Canadian law that matters).
That makes it our business. The day she became mayor (regardless of the fact that Slocan only has around 350 people) of a Canadian town, she took on responsibilities for the public interest - like crime. How can the good people of Slocan expect her to keep their street (streets? Maybe) safe if she can't even keep track of what hubby is doing? Saying that she didn't know doesn't cut it. My mother didn't live with us in high school, and she still caught me a bunch of times just by chance. I can't imagine trying to grow the stuff and not having that eventually get out - this isn't a plant or two in a shed back in the woods, 600+ plants is a full time job and there's no way in my mind she could have missed it.
Now, the council backs her up, and I have to say it's not too surprising - how can they kick her out? A bunch of them are probably too busy right now trying to find new dealers, since the Perriere boys are out of business. Chances are half the town knew about this, including Mrs. Mayor, and they're just jumping through the necessary hoops to get everything back to normal (red eyed and hungry) as fast as possible.
BC bud is big business for a reason - people here smoke so much of it they've turned growing it into an art form that is recognized world wide, and it's the little towns, surrounded by vast forests, that create the best opportunity for stoners to get away and hone their growing skills.
Mayor Perriere will most likely remain in office - and why not? Really, by riding this out, she may create a powerful campaign point for her next run. I bet there's plenty of growers that would be happy to have someone who knows the business a little protecting their interests.
Personally, I don't care all that much if she stays or goes - I just don't like her saying that criminal activity by an officials immediate family is not a public issue. If you want to be in office, great, but you should clean your own house before you start pointing out dirt to the rest of us.
Here's my question: Yes, lady, it is a family issue. A BIG family issue. Don't you want to, oh, I don't know . . . maybe focus on your family? Doesn't it seem as though you might have some serious issues to deal with?
ReplyDeleteJust my point of view, of course. I could be overreacting. I'm sure it's easy to miss six HUNDRED plants in your vegetable patch.
Well she may have a lot of free time now, since they'll probably both go to jail.
ReplyDeleteMaybe she's just trying to stay productive?
Unbelievable. Really ... but then, reality often is. Hope everybody can soon get a grip on priorities. Thanks for the post ... it was entertaining, and I wouldn't have known about it otherwise. :)
ReplyDeleteSorry, but I have to disagree. Your suspicions are certainly understandable, but ultimately unfounded. This is all based on conjecture, which bears no legal weight whatsoever.
ReplyDeleteSecond, it is a basis of our constitutional law that responsibility for remaining within the law is the responsibility of the individual, not the family. Unless something sticks to the mayor, we may as well be stoning the family members of a violator of Sharia law.
Third, the responsibility of the mayor is in fact to essentially oversee fiscal administration of the community, and not at all to uphold the law. That is the responsibility of the specific legal jurisdictions.
Is it unseemly? Definitely. Criminal? Not so far. Grounds for expulsion? Not in a society in which innocence must be presumed, and conjecture rejected out of hand.
Thanks for the thought-provoking piece, though.
BK
Hmm, you seem to think that I'm of the opinion that she should step down - I'm not.
ReplyDeleteOf course you're right about it being conjecture - it's an opinion - and also an opinion that she should realize that certain things become the public's business when you accept a job as a public servant.
For example - was Clinton getting some love in the oval office a family issue? Yes it was.
But was it only a family issue? No - he was the president, and even if we may wish we lived in a magical world where people just left others alone and only formed opinions based on professional merit and blah blah blah - we don't.
Welcome to earth. Where spying, slandering and personal judgements win - time and time again. It's a damn shame perhaps, but anyone who goes into politics and then acts surprised when their private life becomes public, clearly forgot to do their homework.
I do appreciate your opinion on the subject, but I don't think the Mayor did anything criminal, and you're right - we shouldn't string her up for it, but she should know that whether she likes it of not, being MAyor means she loses some privacy.
Personally I don't think she should have mentioned one way or the other who's business it was - why not just say it's a matter for the police and an ongoing investigation? She made a point of telling her town it was not their business - that was her mistake.