No growing at home, warns Charlebois
QUEBEC Growing pot at home in Quebec could land you a ticket from police because it will be illegal under the prevailing provincial cannabis law, the minister responsible for the legislation said Wednesday.
But Lucie Charlebois questioned why Quebecers would even bother cultivating at home when Quebec will make high-quality legal product available in a few months at government-run cannabis stores around the corner.
With the federal government announcing Wednesday it will be legal for Canadians to puff on Oct. 17 following the adoption earlier this week of the federal bill on the purchase and consumption of recreational marijuana, Charlebois said she wanted to remind Quebecers that growing pot at home is not permitted.
“I say to Quebecers, the law was adopted in Quebec and it says zero plants,” Charlebois said arriving for a meeting of the Quebec cabinet. “I say to Quebecers, be vigilant. It’s the Quebec law which prevails.”
Over the last few weeks the issue has risen to a full-blown federalprovincial jurisdictional dispute, but Charlebois herself noted that Ottawa appeared to soften its tone Wednesday when it came to applying the law.
Earlier in Ottawa, federal Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould and federal Health Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor, held their own news conference where they called the passage of Bill C-45 a historic moment for Canada because it puts an end to a century of prohibition.
They tried to address the confusion over home growing. While Ottawa’s bill allows Canadians to grow as many as four plants at home for their own consumption, Quebec’s bill applying the law, Bill 157, does not permit it.
Wilson-Raybould stated for the first time that Ottawa has no intention of contesting Quebec’s law. On the other hand she also said she can’t stop individual citizens who may want to do just that.
And that is what Charlebois predicts might happen, which means that, for now, a provincial government-sponsored challenge to C-45 is ruled out. If a citizen challenge was to emerge, then Quebec would step in to defend its law, she said.
“It’s very clear we will have to defend ourselves if we are challenged,” Charlebois said. “Right now it’s the citizen who is impacted by Ottawa’s haziness.
“Remember our public health officials have said be very careful to not make the product overly available, to not increase consumption.
“I think four plants at one address or for a couple is a lot of cannabis. Secondly, how can you be sure (of a safe environment) when there are children around? A pot plant is pretty big. It does not fit in a locked medicine chest.”
Charlebois said it will be up to the police to enforce the no-home growing rules. “If your neighbour denounces you, you will get a ticket,” Charlebois said. “Why do you want to pay a ticket instead of buying it (cannabis) at the store where we will sell that product at a competitive price?
The fine would be similar to those imposed for violations of Quebec’s tobacco laws, she said. The province offers an alternative: 15 sales outlets to be run by the newly created Société québécoise du cannabis.
Charlebois deplored the fact citizens might have to spend money in the courts over the issue as well.
Quebec’s bill will, however, be up for review in three years and the rules might be changed depending on how Quebec responds to the presence of legal pot, she said.
Her comments mirror those of Premier Philippe Couillard who said Tuesday he was very disappointed the Commons didn’t agree with a Senate proposal to leave some flexibility in the plan so the provinces can decide about growing marijuana at home.
“I find the Senate had a good solution to allow provinces to decide on their own — not on the Criminal Code aspect, which is federal, but on the distribution and the way we manage the product in Quebec,” he said.
On Wednesday, emerging from a meeting of the Quebec cabinet, Couillard described the decision to ignore the Senate as a “missed opportunity.”
“What the federal government has done covers the Criminal Code but we are convinced we have full jurisdiction to regulate on other matters such as distribution and home growing.
“We will defend our prerogative. This is what citizens have told us. We did not invent this. Lucie Charlebois went all around the province before she tabled the bill.
“The message was loud and clear, ‘ We are not comfortable with this, but if you are going to go forward because you have to, please be careful, do it progressively, do it with prudence, let’s measure the impact first and do not trivialize the issue.’ ”
Right now it’s the citizen who is impacted by Ottawa’s haziness. LUCIE CHARLEBOIS, Minister for Rehabilitation, Youth Protection and Public Health