U.S. to free Marc Emery, Canada’s ‘Prince of Pot’ + MORE Jul 7th

VANCOUVER – Canada’s “Prince of Pot” is expected to be released from prison in the United States within days, but it could be weeks before Marc Emery and his followers can celebrate his freedom.
His wife, Jodie Emery, says Marc’s sentence ends on Wednesday, then he’ll be transported to a private deportation facility, where he’ll wait for a flight to Detroit and then a transfer across the border.
March Emery, who’s now 56, was extradited to Seattle in May 2010 and pleaded guilty to selling marijuana seeds from Canada to American customers before serving his time in several U.S. prisons.
His release coincides with Washington state’s first recreational marijuana stores opening for business this week, and his wife says Emery deserves much of the credit.
Jodie Emery says Canada has suffered in her activist husband’s absence, but believes the U.S. had to lead the way in marijuana legalization so that other nations could look to its example…

Nothing like a great contest to start the week off! News, Tips & Tricks Aeroplan is turning is 30 later this week and to celebrate Rewards Canada has teamed up with Aeroplan to giveaway 30,000 Aeroplan miles! Find out how you can enter the contest here! You have until this Saturday to enter.There is a heavy Canadian presence in the bonus offers section today with two new Aeroplan offers from Accor Hotels and Avis, the Jet Airways double miles offer we mentioned late last week and a great multiple night stays offer from Club Carlson! If you are planning any weekend stays in Canada this is an offer you may want to check out as it awards 10,000 bonus Gold Points for weekend stays of 2 or more nights at participating Radisson Hotels in Canada. Travel Deals Air France has matched their partner airline’s seat sale with this fall offer for fall travel to Europe and beyond from Canada. Fares are low as $899 all in for travel between Sep 11 and Oct 15 and must be booked by Jul 13…

VANCOUVER – Canada’s “Prince of Pot” is expected to be released from prison in the United States within days, but it could be weeks before Marc Emery and his followers can celebrate his freedom.
His wife, Jodie Emery, says Marc’s sentence ends on Wednesday, then he’ll be transported to a private deportation facility, where he’ll wait for a flight to Detroit and then a transfer across the border.
March Emery, who’s now 56, was extradited to Seattle in May 2010 and pleaded guilty to selling marijuana seeds from Canada to American customers before serving his time in several U.S. prisons.
His release coincides with Washington state’s first recreational marijuana stores opening for business this week, and his wife says Emery deserves much of the credit.
Jodie Emery says Canada has suffered in her activist husband’s absence, but believes the U.S. had to lead the way in marijuana legalization so that other nations could look to its example…

This coming Saturday, a program we cover frequently here on Rewards Canada turns 30! That’s right Aeroplan, one of Canada’s first loyalty programs will be 30 years old and to celebrate we have joined forces with Aeroplan to giveaway 30,000 Aeroplan Miles to one of our Twitter followers!Here are some Aeroplan highlights from the past 30 years2014: Aeroplan launches its Distinction program, a new tiered recognition program that rewards top accumulating members, based on total Aeroplan Miles earned across all coalition partners, with preferential mileage levels for redemption, bonus mile offers and exclusive privileges 2006: Launched the Beyond Miles Program that enables Aeroplan Members to donate miles to ten charitable organizations2005: Completed Initial Public Offering for world’s first publicly traded loyalty program, Aeroplan Income Fund2002: Aeroplan was spun off as a wholly owned subsidiary of Air Canada2001: Completed the integration of Canadian Plus members into Aeroplan1985: More than 100,000 frequent flyers enrolled in the program1984: Aeroplan began as a promotional tool for Air Canada’s business travellersPersonally I have been a member of Aeroplan since 1988 and my favourite redemption over the years was for a trip for my family of four to San Diego from Calgary…

Over the weekend, Stephen Harper delivered his annual summer speech to a friendly audience in his Calgary riding. Below—weighing in at 3,000 words—is the prepared text for that speech. Consider it a preview of the 2015 campaign. Or the unofficial start of the 2015 campaign. Or the continuation of a campaign that never really ends.
For the sake of comparison, here is the speech Harper delivered in 2013.
As it pertains to Justin Trudeau, the Prime Minister makes sure to reference comments the Liberal leader has made about the budget (see here and here for background), the bombing at the Boston Marathon (see here, here, here and here) and China (see here). Elsewhere, Harper takes credit for the decline of separatist sentiment in Quebec (the sound you hear is New Democrats collectively scoffing) and the falling crime rate (an interesting claim given the government’s previous rhetoric about crime statistics and the long-term trend in this regard). The suggestion of a bureaucratic attempt to reinstate the long-gun registry is also an interesting touch (some background here, here and here)…