Emery paid for truck rentals and volunteers to do the jobs of the striking workers. This caused outrage, leading to the strikers threatening to dump garbage on Emery's front lawn. He ran for mayor of the city of Vancouver in 1996, 2002 and 2008. In 2000 he was a founding member of the Marijuana Party of Canada. Emery ran for the Canadian House of Commons as a Marijuana Party Candidate in the 2000 federal election. In 2001 he helped found the British Columbia Marijuana Party (BCMP). The BCMP placed fifth in the 2001 provincial election. Emery has been the BC Marijuana Party's president since its founding, and also became party leader in 2003, when Dana Larsen resigned to join the NDP. In 2003, when the prohibition of cannabis in Canada was in limbo, Emery launched "the Summer of Legalization" tour, travelling to 18 cities across Canada to openly smoke marijuana in front of police stations. In November 2003, Emery endorsed NDP leader Jack Layton during an interview with Layton on the Pot TV program. In the 2005 British Columbia election, Emery ran for the BC Marijuana Party, but was defeated. He endorsed Svend Robinson's candidacy in Vancouver Centre during the 2006 federal election campaign. In the 2009 BC provincial election, Emery supported the Green Party of British Columbia. His wife, Jodie Emery, was the BC Green candidate in Vancouver-Fraserview. She had sought the Liberal Party of Canada's nomination in Vancouver East for the 2015 federal election, however, her candidacy was disallowed by the party. The Liberal Party, which had campaigned on cannabis legalization, secured a majority in the election and legalized cannabis in 2018 with the Cannabis Act. Marc Emery endorsed Maxime Bernier's candidacy for the leadership of the federal Conservative Party in 2016 and announced his intention to join the Conservatives in order to vote for Bernier, due to the candidate's libertarian platform. In the 2019 Canadian federal election, he supported the People's Party of Canada (PPC), which Bernier founded after leaving the Conservative Party. He ran for the PPC in London North Centre during the 2021 election, finishing in fourth place with 5% of the vote. Legal issues US government officials have described Emery as a drug dealer for his efforts to sell marijuana seeds in Canada and abroad. 1991 obscenity charges In 1991, Emery was convicted for selling copies of 2 Live Crew's rap CD As Nasty