Bill Blair, the former police chief of Toronto, slides into his restaurant chair and twinkles at the waitress. He’s 6ft 6in, white-haired now but perky. Bill has 120 years of policing behind him. He, his father and his grandfather all served 40 years in the force. Now he’s an MP and he’s legalising cannabis in Canada.
The restaurant has been here since early in Bill’s father’s time on the beat. It claims to have invented the bacon cheeseburger. We sit round a plastic-topped table and Bill tells me how he ended up pushing drug reform.
‘When I left the force all three political parties wanted me to run for office. I’ve spent my life avoiding politics and the other parties reminded me why. They just wanted me for political kudos. But Trudeau was different. He asked my advice on policy.’
Danny Kruger, Steve Moore and Peter Hitchens argue the cases for and against cannabis legalisation:
Justin Trudeau, the handsome young leader of Canada’s Liberal party, wasn’t supposed to win the 2015 election.
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