Trudeau takes political gamble with legalized pot in Canada, pollster says
Ottawa will be blamed when things go wrong
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is reassuring Canadians that the country is indeed ready to become the first G7 member to give the green light to legal recreational pot — a campaign pledge that will become reality in a matter of hours.
Canada has a system that is failing, Trudeau said Monday, adding it does not protect young people or communities from organized criminal involvement in the marijuana trade.
“This is why we’re in the process of legalizing it,” he said on Parliament Hill.
Come Wednesday, anyone who is 18 or 19, depending on the province or territory, will be able to legally buy and use cannabis — a drug even Trudeau has admitted to using while it was illegal.
But the dramatic legal and policy shift — and all of the changes set to flow from it at the federal, provincial and municipal levels — comes with political risks, says pollster David Coletto.
Coletto, CEO of research firm Abacus Data, said Monday his work has shown that the majority of Canadians support pot’s legalization, but he noted there are implicit political risks associated with shifts of this magnitude.
“For everyone’s entire life, this has been seen as something that is prohibited — that is illegal, that will get you in trouble if you consume it and get caught — to now overnight going to be legal,” he said in an interview. “I think (that) is risky.”
Canadians will be watching the execution of cannabis legalization, Coletto said, noting the federal Liberals are the “highprofile initiators” of change and may be blamed for anything that goes wrong.
“I think the real risk, beyond just people becoming opposed to this over time, is that because they’re the ones who initiated it, the federal government could become blamed for a problem that’s actually local.”
Canadians remain unsure about what will happen, Coletto added, noting that people don’t have a clear sense of rules and regulations around cannabis in their own backyards.
For their part, police forces have also raised concerns about elements of the unknown, including the effects of drug-impaired driving.
Minister of Organized Crime Reduction Bill Blair, a former Toronto police chief, said Monday he understands “the anxiety” associated with the significant change.
But he said the government has provided tools to make roads and communities safe.
There is a consensus across the country that more needs to be done to protect children and to displace the illicit marijuana market, Blair added.
Conservative House leader Candice Bergen said Monday the federal government has rushed legalization, pointing to uncertainty at the Canada-U.S. border, as well as provincial and municipal concerns, as evidence that Canada isn’t ready.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said Monday he supports legalization, but his party wants Ottawa to expunge Canadians’ criminal records for simple pot possession.
The lack of action will “weaken” an otherwise positive step taken by the government, he said, suggesting it calls into question the progressive elements of the decision.
The government has said it will address the issue of criminal records for past marijuana infractions only after legalization.