Trudeau government, senators fail Canada’s kids

My grandfather fought for Canada during the First World War, taking a bullet at Passchendaele. My father, he served in the Second World War as a tail-gunner assigned to the Royal Canadian Air Force. Both of these individuals put everything on the line to defend their way of life.

Globally, the past century saw more people prematurely die of tobacco-related deaths than all the lives lost in the two world wars and worldwide famines combined. It’s estimated that there will be a 10-fold increase in the number of deaths associated with tobacco products this century.

It was recently reported in the media that tobacco deaths continue to be the No. 1 cause of preventable death in Canada. The Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids reported a few years ago that 28 per cent of those who die from second-hand smoke are children, many of whom are infants. I recall the first time I read this statement and how it deeply disturbed me, considering so many lives were needlessly lost.

Justin Trudeau stated he would legalize marijuana if he became prime minister. Instead of taking on Big Tobacco and pushing for a financial settlement for the damage inflicted on the Canadian public by the tobacco industry, a settlement worth in the tens, if not hundreds, of billions of dollars, Trudeau decided once in power to focus his government’s energies on commercializing an additional smoked product.

Bill C-45, the draft legislation to legalize pot in Canada for adults of 18 years of age and older, allows for marijuana to be consumed through smoking devices for the first year of implementation.

Norman Bosse, the Child and Youth Advocate for New Brunswick, prepared a risk assessment of Bill C-45, recommending that it be amended to better protect children. Bosse called for a ban on the smoking of marijuana in homes where kids reside. This wasn’t given serious attention by either provincial or federal parliamentarians.

The Senate, the chamber of sober second thought, passed over the right children have to security of self under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms by not making amendments to address kids’ exposure to second-hand smoke in the home. Officials engaged in months of discussion over far less important aspects of the legislation than the pivotal issue of the protection of children from the consequences that can befall them from adult use of marijuana, a psychotropic, genotoxic and carcinogenic product.

The gold standard in tobacco prevention is de-normalization strategy. De-normalization aims to tackle the predatory behaviours of addiction for profit industries. Legalization discussions in the House of Commons and the Senate ignored de-normalization strategy and the lessons learned from decades of tobacco control.

Discussions swirled around prosperity for the emerging marijuana industry and funding opportunities for hungry research institutes, institutes who survive on government grants and corporate dollars, which places them in a precarious position when asked to weigh in on the government’s pot agenda.

My father and grandfather fought an enemy that stood right in front of them. I’m often asked why I chose to be outspoken in the cannabis debate raging across North America. My question to all those who haven’t engaged in the issue is simple. How could you not stand up and do whatever you could to thwart the development of a second Big Tobacco?

Marijuana will be Trudeau’s legacy. Legalization will also be a decision that Canada will own, as the rest of the world takes a step back and reconsiders their appreciation for our country. I never want to hear a child of mine ask why I hadn’t done something when given the chance to push back on Big Pot. Pamela McColl is a Vancouver author, longtime anti-smoking advocate and a director of the non-profit Smart Approaches to Marijuana Canada.