Premiers push PM for details on pot legalization
Protesters seek national health accord at annual Council of Federation meeting
The premiers need to stand up to the federal government; they need to not accept bilateral deals.
Thefederalgovernment is leaving provinces and territories hanging when it comes to legalized marijuana, premiers say, and they want answers to help them draft cannabis legislation.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau set a July 1 deadline for legal pot, but premiers at the Council of the Federation meeting Wednesday in Edmonton worried the timeline is unrealistic.
Earlier in the week, Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister was pushing for a delay.
He said Wednesday it’s “super dooper” Trudeau wants to stick to July 1, but the federal government needs to do its part to resolve issues around road safety, supply, public education, taxation and preparing a distribution network.
Cannabis talks took most of the morning at the final day of the premiers’ meeting. They agreed to establish a working group, which will report back on the issues by Nov. 1.
Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, host of this year’s summit, is confident Trudeau will treat the premiers’ concerns seriously.
“There is a great depth and breadth to the questions that need to be answered and the engagement the federal government needs to do,” Notley told reporters Wednesday.
Talk also turned to the opioid crisis gripping the nation, with premiers agreeing to use a harm reduction approach.
They also called on the federal government to provide more support to the RCMP and Canada Border Services Agency, and work directly with U.S. health officials, to figure out the best ways of combating the crisis.
Around 100 protesters from various unions and health action groups outside the meeting Wednesday demanded premiers stand up to Ottawa to secure a national health accord.
Adrienne Silnicki of the Canadian Health Coalition said the federal government has backtracked on its accord promise, instead making piecemeal deals with provinces and territories.
Silnicki said the result will be a $33-billion hit to public health care over the next decade.
“The premiers need to stand up to the federal government; they need to not accept bilateral deals,” she said.
But it didn’t seem to be on the agenda. Instead, premiers agreed to try to find more ways to improve drug coverage for Canadians, and called on the federal government to establish a national pharmacare plan.
All but one premier — John Horgan of British Columbia — attended the summit this year, along with 94 delegates.
The leaders of three Indigenous organizations snubbed this year’s meeting following a letter sent to Trudeau in April by past-Council of the Federation chairman, Yukon Premier Sandy Silver.
In that letter, Silver, on behalf of the premiers, recommended the meeting format continue with a separate pre-meeting with Indigenous leaders.
As a result, leaders of the Assembly of First Nations, Métis National Council and Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami held a joint news conference in Toronto saying they were being left out of too many discussions.
Silver said Wednesday he was surprised they didn’t attend, but the premiers stand by the letter.
While it’s extremely important to meet with Indigenous leaders, he said, it’s also important for premiers to meet.
“We want more meetings, not less, but we need to have a better dialogue about what that means when you take a look at our issues, as well as the Indigenous issues,” he said.