Michael Baldasaro
| Michael Baldasaro | |
|---|---|
Brother Michael Baldasaro
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| Archbishop of The Church of the Universe | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | May 23, 1949 |
| Died | June 9, 2016 (aged 67) Hamilton, Ontario |
| Children | Andromeda Smith |
| Profession | Religious leader, marijuana activist |
| Website | Church of the Universe |
Michael A. James Baldasaro (May 23, 1949 – June 9, 2016) was a Canadian political and religious figure from Hamilton, Ontario. He presided over a religious sect known as the Church of the Universe. Baldasaro received significant media coverage over his lifetime for his advocacy on behalf of marijuana legalization, as well as his status as a perennial candidate in numerous Hamilton-area elections.
Baldasaro was a member of the Church of the Universe, where he was commonly known as Brother Michael. The Church has been in existence since 1969, when it was founded by the late Walter Tucker, and Baldasaro remained continuously active in its operations. Its members use marijuana as a sacrament and previously operated from the Church Headquarters, an abandoned rock quarry near Puslinch, Ontario.
The quarry was named 'Clearwater Abbey', which church members called 'a beautiful oasis' where they could practice naturism and cultivate marijuana. In 2004, after selling small amounts of marijuana on multiple occasions to an undercover police officer at their Barton Street, Hamilton residence, Baldasaro and Tucker were arrested and charged with trafficking. In 2007, they pleaded not guilty to the charges but after a lengthy trial, a jury found them both guilty. At their sentencing hearing in April 2008, Baldasaro, who had 12 previous trafficking convictions, was sentenced to a two-year penitentiary term while Tucker was sentenced to a one-year reformatory term. The Crown also applied to the court to have the property from which they distributed marijuana and their Church forfeited to the federal government as an offence-related property, and the Crown's application was granted.
Baldasaro, a perennial candidate, saw his support peak in 1988, when he was the sole opponent of incumbent mayor Bob Morrow. He received over 7,500 votes, which was approximately 10% of the vote.
Baldasaro stood in the 2004 Ward 2 by-election, following the resignation of Andrea Horwath, and placed seventh out of eleven candidates with 52 votes. In 2006, Baldasaro again ran for mayor of Hamilton and received 4,520 votes or 3.61% of the total vote.
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