Cannabis passage crucial to PM’s credibility

Promise made, promise kept — which is not something this government has been able to say very often.

The passage of the pot-legalization bill before the summer recess was crucial for Justin Trudeau, who during his 959 days in power has garnered a reputation as a promise-breaker.

After reneging on the pledge to usher in electoral reform and blowing through the commitment to rack up “modest” deficits, this was a big one — and it needed to be fulfilled, if anyone was to going to believe anything the prime minister said in the run-up to the 2019 election.

The summer hiatus provides a convenient demarcation between the first three years in power, which were all about trying to live up to the sprawling campaign platform, and the final one, which will look ahead to the coming vote.

“It is our hope that as of October 17, there will be a smooth operation of retail cannabis outlets operated by the provinces, with an online mail-delivery system operated by the provinces, that will ensure that this happens in an orderly fashion.”

There are an assortment of models in place as provinces prepare for the legal sale of cannabis. The western provinces will allow at least some private retailers to operate, while eastern provinces (including Ontario but excepting Newfoundland and Labrador) are restricting sales to government-run stores.

Some provinces, however, are far ahead of others. Trina Fraser, a cannabis business specialist at Brazeau Seller Law, said New Brunswick is nearly ready to start stocking its store shelves, for example, while B.C. hasn’t even started accepting applications for licences to operate private stores. Ontario has so far announced locations for only four of its governmentrun stores; the former Liberal government planned to have 40 open by year’s end, but with premier-designate Doug Ford having mused during the election about opening sales to the private sector, plans in the largest province could still change.

“There’s going to be a wide array of how quickly the retail storefronts actually roll out across the country,” Fraser said. At the very least, provinces will want to ensure they have online retailing ready to go in case there are few physical stores ready by the legalization date.

“Now that the bill is going to have Royal assent, the provinces are going to have to step up and start giving more clarity about where they’re at,” she said.

“They’re going to have to start answering some hard questions. They’ve kind of gotten a pass thus far because we haven’t had a federal framework finalized.”

The bill’s passage allows the government to finally publish the regulations that will govern the legal cannabis trade. Expected in the next week or two, they are keenly awaited by private operators as they will reveal the detailed rules for areas such as labelling and packaging, security clearances for employees and requirements for outdoor cultivation.

Meanwhile, home cultivation will remain muddy in Quebec, Manitoba and Nunavut, which have all banned home-grow despite the fact the federal legislation allows people to grow up to four plants at home. Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould told reporters Wednesday the federal government won’t initiate a challenge of those bans, leaving it up to residents of those provinces and territories to do so.

“There’s a law that was duly passed in Quebec and that’s the law of the province,” she said. “If individuals do not agree with that law then they can challenge that law.”

In Ottawa the big political question will now be the prospect of amnesty for those with previous marijuana-related criminal convictions, as even minor convictions can mean a Canadian is barred from entering the U.S. and other countries. Cabinet ministers have indicated pardons are being considered, but have not made any promises.

Trudeau said there’s “no point” in discussing it until the new laws are in place, a position echoed by Bill Blair, the MP and former Toronto police chief who co-ordinates the marijuana file for the government.

“I believe that’s premature,” Blair said when asked Wednesday about pardons. “We have a responsibility to uphold the existing law and we are doing that. This is a nation based on the rule of law. That law is in effect and we will continue to uphold it until it is repealed and replaced.”

The government also still has work to do on the drugimpaired driving file. Bill C-46, which passed its final vote in the Senate Wednesday evening, was introduced alongside the Cannabis Act and will allow police to use roadside screening devices to swab the saliva of drivers to check for marijuana.

But those devices are still being tested and will need to be approved by WilsonRaybould before police forces can buy them.

In the meantime, police will continue to use standardized sobriety exercises backed up by blood tests.