Provinces creating patchwork quilt of legislation
Quilt of marijuana laws emerging across Canada as provinces refine the details
Ottawa lawyer Trina Fraser says someone should invent an app called “Am I Breaking the Law?” to help Canadians navigate the confusion when recreational marijuana becomes legal.
Pot smokers could type in their age, location, the amount and type of marijuana they possess, where they bought it and where they plan to consume it, then press a button to find out if they are in danger of being collared by police. She’s not joking. The federal government plans to legalize recreational marijuana across the country in July. But the provinces are in charge of key details, such as where people can buy pot, where they will be allowed to consume it and whether they will be able to grow a few plants at home.
As the provinces announce their plans, a patchwork of rules is emerging that could lead to some interesting situations, especially in cities like Ottawa that hug provincial borders.
Varying provincial rules might create cross-border shopping, predicts Fraser. But that is not clear because the rules are still being formulated and municipalities may also jump in with regulations.
In Ontario and Quebec, residents have lived for decades with variances in liquor laws. In Ottawa, some 18-year-olds cross the bridge over the Ottawa River to Gatineau to drink in a province where that’s the legal age.
Some predict it will be the same for marijuana. Ontario has set the legal age of purchase at 19 while Quebec has chosen 18, both matching their legal drinking ages.
There are added twists with marijuana, however, because the two provinces have proposed different rules for where people can consume it.
You won’t be able to order marijuana in bars or restaurants in either province. But Quebec’s proposed legislation would allow people to smoke pot in most places where cigarettes are allowed, with a few extra restrictions, such as a prohibition on smoking pot on the campuses of post-secondary institutions. The law would appear to allow people to smoke cannabis on the street and at events such as outdoor festivals, said Élaine Léger, an associate with Fasken Martineau DuMoulin in Montreal.
In Ontario, the cannabis bill passed in December bans consumption in public places.
So, in theory, Ottawans could head to Gatineau, buy pot at the government-run store and walk back home smoking it. They would just have to stop halfway across the interprovincial bridge and toss their joint into the Ottawa River before stepping onto the Ontario side, where smoking pot while strolling down the sidewalk would be banned.
The varying laws might even influence where people choose to rent apartments, says Fraser. In Ontario, residents of no-smoking apartments or condos might be left with no place to smoke pot. On the other hand, Ontario residents would be able to grow their own cannabis at home, a practice that would be banned in Quebec.
Can we expect pot-smoking refugees from Ottawa to head to Gatineau looking for a place to light up or rent an apartment? Will some people choose to avoid Quebec and live on the Ontario side of the river so they can grow their own pot? Maybe. To add to the complexity, the rules are being tweaked as both provinces scramble to get ready for legalization.
Ontario’s rules may eventually be relaxed.
You may have a little bit of crossborder shopping by 18-year-olds.
The province has asked the public to weigh in on whether to allow cannabis lounges and designated consumption spaces outside multi-unit dwellings like apartments and condos.
In Quebec, things might become more restrictive. The province has suggested it will allow municipalities to slap their own rules on where cannabis can be consumed. Politicians in several smaller municipalities have said they favour a ban on pot smoking in public places like parks.
Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante has said she wants the power to ban cannabis consumption at particular events, reports the Montreal Gazette.
Plante gave the example of the Fête des Neiges festival in Parc Jean-Drapeau.
“For four days, there are families, there are kids — we want to be able to say, ‘OK, for this period of time in that area, there’s no smoking whatsoever,’ ” she told the Gazette.
Does Gatineau want to impose its own restrictions?
Mayor Maxime Pedneaud-Jobin declined to comment. His spokesperson says he’s waiting for advice from the city’s health committee, which will study the issue sometime in the next few months.
Across Canada, varying provincial rules may prompt cross-border cannabis tourism, especially in Quebec and Alberta, which have set the legal age to purchase at 18, says Fraser. Other provinces that have announced plans have chosen 19 as the minimum age to buy cannabis.
“The consequences that I foresee, particularly with the age differences in Alberta and Quebec, you may have a little bit of crossborder shopping by 18-year-olds,” Fraser says. “And you may have some cannabis tourism from less permissive to more permissive provinces, depending on the details of how things work.”
The provinces need to have education campaigns to make sure people understand the rules, she says.
“The main issue I see is confusion,” Fraser says.
“There is all sorts of information out there and it’s really going to be a matter of someone saying, ‘OK, this is what I am proposing to do. Wait, am I allowed to do that?’ It’s going to be a matter of how easy it will be for the public to get good information about the rules that are relevant to them because it is such a patchwork quilt.
“There is literally no two provinces that are taking exactly the same approach. There are subtle differences with every single one and major differences with some.”