Chris Buors is a cannabis activist and politician in Manitoba, Canada. He became leader of the Libertarian Party of Manitoba (LPM) in 2003, and oversaw the party's transformation to the Manitoba Marijuana Party (MMP) in 2004. He has also campaigned federally as a candidate of the Marijuana Party of Canada.
He stood down as leader in 2007 when the party was restructured as the Freedom Party of Manitoba, although he continued as party president. Buors was 47 years old as of 2005[update].[1]
Contents |
Buors graduated from Elmwood High School in Winnipeg, and worked as a locomotive engineer with the Canadian National Railway for nineteen years. His life as an activist began in 1997, when he was charged with growing cannabis in his garden. He refused mandatory counselling and drug testing, and was fired from his job.[2] Much of his subsequent career has been focused on challenging Canada's prohibition laws on cannabis. He became president of the Anti-Prohibition League of Manitoba,[3] and in 1998 organized the first pro-pot rally in Winnipeg since the 1970s.[4] Buors has also founded a Compassion Club for medicinal marijuana use.
He first campaigned for public office in the 1999 provincial election, running against provincial Justice Minister Vic Toews in Rossmere as a candidate of the Libertarian Party. He received 62 votes, while Toews was narrowly defeated by New Democratic Party candidate Harry Schellenberg.
Buors ran for the newly-formed Marijuana Party of Canada in the 2000 federal election, and received 640 votes in Winnipeg South Centre. He also participated in a 2002 by-election in St. Boniface (435 votes), and ran in the same riding for the 2004 election (317 votes). His intent was not to win election, but to draw attention to cannabis prohibition and related issues.
Dennis Rice resigned as leader of the Manitoba Libertarian Party two days after the 2003 provincial election was called, and Buors was quickly chosen as his replacement. By his acknowledgement, the LPM's primary goal for the election was simply to maintain official party status with Elections Manitoba.[5] He ran in the north-end Winnipeg constituency of St. Johns, and received 32 votes. He continued as LPM leader after the election. In November 2004, the Libertarian Party of Manitoba officially changed its name to the Manitoba Marijuana Party.[6]
Although primarily focused on cannabis legislation, Buors has also written in support of other libertarian viewpoints. He supports principles of individualism over collectivism, is an opponent of socialism, and has described himself as a supporter of Thomas Szasz[7] and Ludwig Von Mises.[8] Buors has called for the repeal of all laws which restrict drug purchase and use, and believes the state has no authority to control the private consumption of any substance.[9] He has also written against the decriminalization of marijuana for limited medicinal purposes, arguing that this approach would perpetuate an unjust system of state medicine.[10]
Buors is a friend and supporter of Marc Emery, whom many consider to be the leader of Canada's cannabis movement.[11]
Buors was sentenced to six months in prison in November 2004, after pleading guilty to cannabis distribution and marketing charges arising from his operation of the Manitoba Compassion Club. The club served patients suffering from a variety of illnesses including Crohn's disease, fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis, and depression. Several patients, including one in a wheelchair, appeared in court to join in asking for leniency. While the judge agreed that Buors was helping ill people, he cited Buors's tenacity in defying the law (including an effort to restart his cannabis growing operation immediately after his arrest by soliciting funds and equipment from passers-by) in determining his sentence.[12]
Later in 2005, while participating in a discussion on the subject of personal versus public discrimination, Buors commented that he has had "no respect for homosexuals" since an adult attempted to molest him in a cinema when he was thirteen. While making no judgement on homosexual activities as such, he wrote that he did not want "such deviants in [his] social circle".[13] He later refused to apologize. Notwithstanding this, Buors has also argued that the state has no right to oversee or restrict consensual private activities between adults. Later in 2005, he defended openly gay Quebec politician André Boisclair against allegations that Boisclair's past cocaine use made him unfit for public office.[14] Marc Emery has defended Buors against accusations of bigotry.[15]
Buors is a frequent contributor to online discussion forums, and is a prolific writer of letters-to-the-editor. In 2005, he wrote against extraditing Marc Emery to the United States of America for conspiracy to sell cannabis seeds.[16]
Buors announced his retirement from active political life on November 18, 2005, and accused Wikipedia of portraying him unfairly by reprinting his comments about homosexuals.[17]
Buors endorsed the New Democratic Party in the 2006 federal election, as the NDP was the only major party to support an end to Canada's prohibition laws on cannabis. Several other Marijuana Party members, including Marc Emery, also endorsed the NDP for this election.[18]
After the election, Buors wrote a series of letters to the Winnipeg Free Press newspaper supporting private property rights on aboriginal reserves.[19] He later called for the withdrawal of Canadian troops from Afghanistan, arguing that Canada had no historical or business ties to the region and was choosing sides in an "ancient squabble".[20]
The Manitoba Marijuana Party was renamed as the Freedom Party of Manitoba in 2007. Buors continued as party president, but turned over the leadership to James Cotton. He planned to run in the electoral division of Burrows, but was unable to do so when the party failed to register any candidates with Elections Manitoba.[21] The party's current status is unclear.
| Preceded by renamed from Libertarian Party |
Leader of the Manitoba Marijuana Party 2005-2007 |
Succeeded by James Cotton (*) |
| Preceded by Dennis Rice |
Leader of the Libertarian Party of Manitoba 2003–2005 |
Succeeded by renamed as Marijuana Party |
| 2004 federal election : Saint Boniface edit | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | Expenditures | ||
| Liberal | (x)Raymond Simard | 17,989 | 46.61 | $63,564.15 | ||
| Conservative | Ken Cooper | 11,956 | 30.98 | $66,805.04 | ||
| New Democratic Party | Mathieu Allard | 6,954 | 18.02 | $9,928.81 | ||
| Green | Daniel Backé | 925 | 2.40 | $202.15 | ||
| Christian Heritage | Jeannine Moquin-Perry | 378 | 0.98 | $7,690.81 | ||
| Marijuana | Chris Buors | 317 | 0.82 | $0.00 | ||
| Communist | Gérard Guay | 77 | 0.20 | $654.58 | ||
| Total valid votes | 38,596 | 100.00 | ||||
| Total rejected ballots | 130 | 0.34 | ||||
| Turnout | 38,726 | 60.70 | ||||
| Electors on the lists | 63,796 | |||||
Percentage change figures are factored for redistribution. Conservative Party percentages are contrasted with the combined Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative percentages from 2000. Sources: Official Results, Elections Canada and Financial Returns, Elections Canada.
| 2003 Manitoba provincial election : St. Johns edit | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | +/- | Expenditures | |
| New Democratic Party | (x)Gord Mackintosh | 4,224 | 72.40 | +0.83 | $13,571.43 | |
| Liberal | Ed Kolodziej | 745 | 12.77 | +5.24 | $4041.92 | |
| Progressive Conservative | E. Ray Garnett | 612 | 10.49 | -9.81 | $967.69 | |
| Green | Alon Weinberg | 221 | 3.79 | +3.79 | $532.73 | |
| Libertarian | Chris Buors | 32 | 0.55 | +0.55 | $0.00 | |
| Total valid votes | 5,834 | 100.00 | ||||
| Rejected and declined votes | 43 | |||||
| Turnout | 5,877 | 47.72 | ||||
| Registered voters | 12,315 | |||||
| Canadian federal by-election, May 13, 2002 : Saint Boniface edit | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | Expenditures | ||
| Liberal | Raymond Simard | 8,862 | 42.83 | $39,153.92 | ||
| Canadian Alliance | Denis Simard | 4,497 | 21.73 | $49,254.86 | ||
| Progressive Conservative | Mike Reilly | 3,583 | 17.32 | $9,857.58 | ||
| New Democratic Party | John Edmund Parry | 3,106 | 15.01 | $8,078.49 | ||
| Marijuana | Chris Buors | 435 | 2.10 | $4,785.53 | ||
| Christian Heritage Party | Jean-Paul Kabashiki | 210 | 1.01 | $8,974.79 | ||
| Total valid votes | 20,693 | 100.00 | ||||
| Rejected votes | 82 | |||||
| Turnout | 20,775 | 35.42 | ||||
| Electors on the lists | 58,653 | |||||
| 2000 federal election : Winnipeg South Centre edit | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | Expenditures | ||
| Liberal | Anita Neville | 15,231 | 40.46 | $53,901.24 | ||
| Progressive Conservative | David Newman | 10,675 | 28.36 | $37,980.78 | ||
| New Democratic Party | James Allum | 7,501 | 19.93 | $15,305.39 | ||
| Canadian Alliance | Betty Granger | 3,210 | 8.53 | $21,336.08 | ||
| Marijuana | Chris Buors | 640 | 1.70 | $0.00 | ||
| Canadian Action Party | Magnus Thompson | 202 | 0.54 | $3,582.00 | ||
| Communist | David Allison | 181 | 0.48 | $263.77 | ||
| Total valid votes | 37,640 | 100.00 | ||||
| Rejected votes | 181 | |||||
| Turnout | 37,821 | 62.54 | ||||
| Electors on the lists | 60,471 | |||||
Sources: Official Results, Elections Canada and Financial Returns, Elections Canada.
| 1999 Manitoba provincial election : Rossmere edit | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | +/- | Expenditures | |
| New Democratic Party | Harry Schellenberg | 5,097 | 49.21 | $25,409.00 | ||
| Progressive Conservative | (x)Vic Toews | 4,803 | 46.37 | $30,765.70 | ||
| Liberal | Cecilia Connelly | 396 | 3.82 | $766.92 | ||
| Libertarian | Chris Buors | 62 | 0.60 | $353.40 | ||
| Total valid votes | 10,358 | 100.00 | ||||
| Rejected and discarded votes | 54 | |||||
| Turnout | 10,412 | 79.47 | ||||
| Registered voters | 13,102 | |||||
All electoral information is taken from Elections Canada and Elections Manitoba. Provincial election expenditures refer to individual candidate expenses. Italicized expenditures refer to submitted totals, and are presented when the final reviewed totals are not available.