Big political question: amnesty
“There’s going to be a wide array of how quickly the retail storefronts actually roll out across the country,” Fraser said. At the very least, provinces will want to ensure they have online retailing ready to go in case there are few physical stores ready by the legalization date.
“Now that the bill is going to have royal assent, the provinces are going to have to step up and start giving more clarity about where they’re at,” she said. “They’re going to have to start answering some hard questions. They’ve kind of gotten a pass thus far because we haven’t had a federal framework finalized.”
The bill’s passage allows the government to finally publish the regulations that will govern the legal cannabis trade. Expected in the next week or two, they are keenly awaited by private operators as they will reveal the detailed rules for areas such as labelling and packaging, security clearances for employees and requirements for outdoor cultivation.
Meanwhile, the situation for home cultivation will remain muddy in Quebec, Manitoba and Nunavut, which have all banned home-grow despite the fact the federal legislation allows people to grow up to four plants at home. Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould told reporters Wednesday the federal government won’t initiate a challenge of those bans, leaving it up to residents of those provinces and territories to do so.
“There’s a law that was duly passed in Quebec and that’s the law of the province,” she said. “If individuals do not agree with that law then they can challenge that law.”
In Ottawa the big political question will now be the prospect of amnesty for those with previous marijuana-related criminal convictions. Cabinet ministers have indicated pardons are being considered, but have not made any promises.
Trudeau said there’s “no point” in discussing it until the new laws are in place, a position echoed by Bill Blair, the former Toronto police chief and MP who co-ordinates the marijuana file for the government.
“I believe that’s premature,” Blair said when asked Wednesday about the likelihood of pardons. “We have a responsibility to uphold the existing law and we are doing that. This is a nation based on the rule of law. That law is in effect and we will continue to uphold it until it is repealed and replaced.”
The federal government also still has work to do on the drug-impaired driving file. Bill C-46, which passed its final vote in the Senate on Wednesday evening, was introduced alongside the Cannabis Act and will allow police to use roadside screening devices to swab the saliva of drivers to check for marijuana.
But those devices are still being tested and will need to be approved by Wilson-Raybould before police forces can buy them. In the meantime, police will continue to use standardized sobriety exercises backed up by blood tests.