Let Quebec decide on growing pot at home

Provinces and territories, not feds, will be on front lines of legal marijuana

Should Canadians across the country be permitted to grow their own cannabis plants for recreational use? And who should get to decide — provincial governments, or the federal government?

The issue has been a sticking point on the ever-winding road to marijuana legalization in Canada. On Monday, a Senate social affairs committee conducted a clause-by-clause study of C-45, the federal bill addressing the regulation, sale and cultivation of recreational cannabis. The committee made dozens of amendments, including one stating that provinces and territories can choose to prohibit personal cultivation of cannabis plants.

This was welcome news to the governments of Quebec and Manitoba. Both have insisted they will prohibit home cultivation entirely, despite the four-plant limit permitted under the proposed federal law.

From where I stand, the amendment is also an important acknowledgment that, when it comes to managing the regulation of legal marijuana in Canada, it’s the provinces, territories and municipalities — not the federal government — who will be on the front lines of this policy experiment.

The matter isn’t settled just yet. The amended version of the bill will now return to the Senate as a whole. Senators will choose whether to accept or reject the amendments, or propose new ones. The final vote is scheduled for June 7.

It remains to be seen whether the federal government will accept the Senate committee amendment. The Trudeau Liberals, who first pledged to legalize marijuana in their 2015 election platform, originally rejected Quebec’s request on banning home cultivation of pot plants, insisting that the federal approach to allow the production of up to four plants is the right one, and that the provinces should fall in line. At a recent conference at McGill University’s Institute for Health and Social Policy (IHSP), Liberal MP Bill Blair, the parliamentary secretary to the ministers of health and justice, said that a limited number of homegrown plants will help facilitate a reasoned transition from an illegal to legal market. For her part, Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould has said the federal legislation would prevail in any future legal challenges.

The government plans to enact the legislation this summer. All three levels of government across the country are now working to ensure that the appropriate regulations, laws and by-laws are lined up by the time this legislation is to come into effect. It’s a tall order, in part because there is no precedent for what Canada is setting out to do. Other jurisdictions, including Uruguay, Portugal and a handful of U.S. states, have lessons to share around the legalization of marijuana. But Canada is set to become the first federation to legalize and regulate the sale and consumption marijuana at a national level.

The federal government is responsible for regulating the production of cannabis, establishing rules around possession limits and minimum age limits for purchase and consumption, advertising, tracking seed to sale, establishing personal cultivation and the ongoing oversight of the medical cannabis system.

The provincial and territorial governments will be responsible for creating the regulatory regimes and governing certain aspects of the legalization framework. Municipalities are expected to be closely involved with zoning, business licensing and building codes, workplace safety and enforcement of regulations around public consumption and impaired driving. Areas of shared jurisdictional responsibility may include public consumption, rules for retail locations, taxation, public education, public health and law enforcement.

Jean-Marc Fournier, Quebec’s minister of Federal-Provincial Relations, has called on Ottawa to practise “co-operative federalism” and respect Quebec’s jurisdictional power in this matter. His call should be heeded.

The legalization of marijuana is a hugely ambitious policy measure. The Liberals have framed their approach in terms of health and harm reduction, protecting youth and countering the damaging effects of over-criminalization for drug related offences. All good. But the process is not without risk, and a conservative approach out of the gate seems prudent.

The Senate process is a reminder of the complex dynamics of Canadian federalism, and that for marijuana legalization to work in the best interests of all Canadians, all levels of government must find common ground. twitter.com/ Cooper Celine