Blair Longley

Blair Timmothy Longley (born September 25, 1950) is a Canadian politician, activist, and leader of the Marijuana Party.

Blair Longley
Leader of the Marijuana Party
Assumed office
2004
Preceded byMarc-Boris St-Maurice
Chief Officer of the Marijuana Party
Assumed office
2019
Chief Agent of the Rhinoceros Party of Canada
In office
1985–1987
Personal details
BornSeptember 25, 1950
Vancouver, Canada
Political partyMarijuana Party of Canada
Other political
affiliations		Bloc Pot
Rhinoceros Party
Green Party

Early life

Blair Longley was born on September 25, 1950, in Vancouver, British Columbia and grew up in North Vancouver.[1][2]

Career

Longley attended the founding meeting of the Green Party of Canada at Carleton University in November 1983. He went on to be an active member of the Rhinoceros Party of which he was an official agent from 1985 to 1987.

He joined the Marijuana Party shortly after its foundation and became the party's leader in 2004, following the resignation of Marc-Boris St-Maurice.[3]

He has been a candidate for the House of Commons of Canada on four occasions, with three different party labels. He ran for the Green Party in the 1984 election in the riding of Burnaby placing a distant fourth of four candidates with 364 of 58,991 votes. In 1988 he ran against opposition leader John Turner, with no party affiliation, and placed ninth of twelve candidates with 52 of 54,654 votes.

Longley ran for the Bloc Pot in the 2003 Quebec provincial election. He later ran for the Marijuana Party in the riding of North Okanagan—Shuswap in 2004 and placed fifth of eight candidates with 492 of 51,765 votes, then in 2008 in the riding of Hochelaga, Quebec, placing eighth of nine with 183 of 45,683 votes.

Following the legalization of cannabis in Canada, Longley said it was "going to be harder than ever now for the Marijuana Party to exist".[4] Only four candidates ran for the Marijuana Party in the 2019 federal election.[5] Longley is currently the Marijuana Party's chief agent, in addition to being the Party's leader, and so is ineligible to run in federal elections. Since legalization, Longley has shifted the Marijuana Party's message towards scrutinizing the "rapid capitalization" of the drug.[6]

Electoral record
2008 Canadian federal election: Hochelaga
Party Candidate Votes%±%Expenditures
Bloc QuébécoisRéal Ménard22,72049.73−5.85$28,893
LiberalDiane Dicaire9,44220.67+3.43not listed
New DemocraticJean-Claude Rocheleau6,60014.45+5.54$21,479
ConservativeLuc Labbé4,2019.20−3.01$8,586
GreenPhilippe Larochelle1,9464.26−0.60not listed
neorhino.caSimon Landry2300.50–not listed
CommunistMarianne Breton Fontaine1840.40$898
MarijuanaBlair T. Longley1830.40−0.32not listed
Marxist–LeninistChristine Dandenault1770.39−0.09not listed
Total valid votes 45,683 100.00
Total rejected, unmarked, and declined ballots 644
Turnout 46,327 58.24 −0.07
Eligible voters 79,542
Sources: Official Results, Elections Canada and Financial Returns, Elections Canada.
2004 Canadian federal election: North Okanagan—Shuswap
Party Candidate Votes%±%Expenditures
ConservativeDarrel Stinson24,01446.39%–$73,168
New DemocraticAlice Brown12,52824.20%–$36,696
LiberalWill Hansma11,63622.47%–$51,772
GreenErin Nelson2,3334.50%–$960
MarijuanaBlair Longley4920.95%–$400
IndependentGordon Campbell4010.77%–
Canadian ActionClaire Foss2570.49%–$1,558
IndependentK. No. Daniels1040.20%–
Total valid votes 51,765100.00%
Total rejected ballots 1740.34%
Turnout 51,939
Quebec provincial by-election, September 20, 2004: Nelligan
Party Candidate Votes%±%
LiberalYolande James7,81252.58
IndependentMichel Gibson4,03827.18
Parti QuébécoisSahar Hawili1,53810.35
Action démocratiqueTom Pentefountas1,0396.99
GreenRyan Young2511.69–
UFPJosée Larouche1200.81–
Bloc PotBlair Longley580.39
Total valid votes 14,856 100.00
Rejected and declined votes 62
Turnout 14,918 28.60
Electors on the lists 52,163
Sources: Official Results, Government of Quebec
2003 Quebec general election: D'Arcy-McGee
Party Candidate Votes%±%
LiberalLawrence Bergman23,96891.29+0.68
Parti QuébécoisMathieu Breault1,0874.14+1.02
Action démocratiqueSylvain James Bowes5201.98+0.73
EqualityWilliam F. Shaw4061.55-2.81
Bloc PotBlair T. Longley2741.04–
1988 Canadian federal election: Vancouver Quadra
Party Candidate Votes
LiberalJohn Turner24,021
Progressive ConservativeBill Clarke16,664
New DemocraticGerry Scott11,687
ReformJ.R. Jack Ford1,112
RhinocerosJohn Turner (no relation)760
LibertarianWalter Boytinck129
CommunistBert Ogden75
IndependentAlbert A. Ritchie74
IndependentBlair T. Longley52
Confederation of RegionsNora Galenzoski35
Commonwealth of CanadaG.J. Joseph Jackman23
IndependentAllen Soroka22
1984 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes
New DemocraticSvend Robinson28,318
Progressive ConservativeBill Langas20,697
LiberalMike Hillman9,612
GreenBlair T. Longley364

See also

References
  1. "Leaders and Parties -Blair Longley Marijuana Party". CBC.ca. Archived from the original on March 30, 2016. Retrieved August 29, 2010.
  2. Bio from the Marijuana Party website
  3. Kassam, Ashifa (June 7, 2018). "One party is dreading marijuana legalization: the Marijuana party". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  4. Harris, Kathleen (October 22, 2018). "Party's over? Legalization could spell the end of the Marijuana Party". CBC News. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  5. McKenzie-Sutter, Holly (October 4, 2019). "N.L. Marijuana Party hopeful misses nomination deadline over paperwork confusion". CTV News Atlantic. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  6. Lum, Zi-Ann (October 27, 2018). "Canada's Marijuana Party Leader Is Pissed About Pot Legalization". HuffPost Canada. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
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