Provinces balk at ‘ambitious’ timeline
OTTAWA— The provinces say they may not have a marketplace for legal marijuana in place for next year, the timeline Ottawa has set to legalize cannabis.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government made good on a campaign vow Thursday and introduced a plan that would radically overhaul Canada’s drug laws to legalize cannabis consumption.
It proposed to allow storefront sales of pot, retain a separate medical marijuana system and create tougher impaired driving laws, not just for drugs but also for alcohol — a bigger scourge in the eyes of many health practitioners.
It’s the first concrete step toward making it legal for Canadians 18 and older to grow, buy and use recreational marijuana as early as Canada Day next year.
If there was any doubt marijuana reform is a political showpiece, the Liberal party immediately sent out a self-congratulatory email to supporters, saying: “What started as a grassroots policy proposal on the convention floor is now concrete, evidence-based legislation in the House of Commons.”
Not so fast, say the provinces.
Attorney General Yasir Naqvi said there is “lots of work ahead” for Ontario as the province weighs decisions such as how marijuana will be sold and what the age of majority will be
At Queen’s Park, Attorney General Yasir Naqvi said there is “lots of work ahead” as the province decides on a distribution network, an age of majority for purchases, measures to protect youth, steps to keep roads safe and information for citizens about the dangers of cannabis.
Alberta’s attorney general called the Liberals’ hope to have a new framework in operation by July “definitely ambitious,” while Premier Rachel Notley warned that meeting Trudeau’s deadline will be tough.
“There is a lot of heavy lifting to be done to get there,” Notley told The Canadian Press. “It may be simple to say, ‘Yeah, let’s legalize marijuana.’
“Administering it is actually very complex.”
The proposals largely follow the recommendations of a federal task force, but they go much further than expected to tackle alcohol- and drugimpaired driving.
The new regime, contained in two bills, would provide for:
New legal limits to allow individuals to have up to 30 grams (a little more than an ounce) of cannabis on hand at a time, to consume as they wish — to smoke or eat in homebaked goods — and to grow four plants in their own home, without breaking the law.
Police would be able to issue tickets for possession of small amounts above the legal limit. Penalties for illegal possession of larger amounts could carry a maximum of up to five years in jail.
The Canadian Association of Police Chiefs opposed personal cultivation at home, saying enforcement of small limits would be a costly nightmare for police and should be left to municipal bylaw officers if adopted.
New criminal penalties for illegally supplying pot to minors (up to 14 years in jail) and for driving while impaired by marijuana.
The reforms create three new drugimpaired driving offences and radically toughen drunk-driving laws, giving police more power to detect illegal blood alcohol limits, prosecutors more tools to secure convictions and judges harsher sentences to impose.
Strict federal controls on advertising, marketing and branding of le- gal marijuana, such as standardized serving sizes, potency, and packaging and labelling.
But federal regulations on those issues, a big concern for marijuana companies and producers who want to be able to advertise and brand their products like tobacco and alcohol companies do, would not come until after the bill is passed into law, said Health Minister Jane Philpott. “There’s always more work to do.”
On Thursday, four stern-faced Liberal ministers and Bill Blair, the exToronto chief leading the pot reform initiative, laid out the government’s rationale to make Canada the largest federal jurisdiction in the world to legalize cannabis consumption.
Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said the current law, which amounts to a total ban on marijuana possession, is “an abject failure.” But he added that “this must be an orderly transition; it is not a free-for-all.”
Together, the ministers stressed that marijuana, as a substance, should remain strictly controlled, not available to children and not consumed by drivers.
Still, many questions were left hanging.
The government gave no answer when asked how cannabis will be priced, how it will be taxed — whether it be through GST alone or through excise or “sin” taxes — or what kind of revenues it expects. The revenue minister said there’s still a lot of work to do with provinces. It’s a tricky question; a high cost to consumers will keep black-market sellers in business.
Private sector, public, and academic economists project widely differing tax hauls in a legal regime, from a low end of $618 million (according to the federal parliamentary budget officer) to a high end of $5 billion or more (according to analysis by CIBC World Markets).
The federal cabinet ministers punted to the provinces details of how cannabis will be sold in retail locations, whether it could be sold in liquor outlets or in separate storefront operations, whether it can be consumed in public spaces or not, and what kind of inspection scheme will monitor compliance.
They did not adopt a task-force recommendation to require separate retail outlets for alcohol and cannabis sales.
Provincial and territorial governments would be free to impose a higher legal consumption age than 18, or a lower limit on plants that can be grown at home.
The justice minister said if provinces try to unfairly restrict access to a soon-to-be-legal product, they could be challenged in court.
However, the federal government will still keep a hand in the provincially regulated market. It would require provinces to ensure that retail sales and distribution of cannabis is restricted to producers who have been federally licensed.
Health Canada would continue to regulate industry-wide pesticide use, product safety and quality standards of commercially sold cannabis.
And, at least in the immediate term, commercially produced “edible” marijuana products cannot be sold.
On top of reforms to drug laws, the Liberal government surprised many by overhauling legislation around impaired driving, changes that would give Canada some of the toughest laws in the world, Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould.
For the first time in Canadian law, there would be a regulated limit for THC (the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis) levels in a driver’s blood. If a police officer suspects a driver is impaired, he can demand a roadside saliva test, which could then lead to a demand for a mandatory evaluation by a drug impairment expert or a blood sample. Failure to comply would be a criminal offence.
There will be stiffer penalties where a driver is impaired by both marijuana and alcohol.
Police chiefs and provinces flagged grave concerns around how police officers will be trained and equipped to undertake the new roadside testing for drug impairment. To date, there is no standardized roadside saliva-testing device for accurate readings of THC levels in the blood, and yet the plan proposes such devices would be used as a first step that could lead to impaired driving charges.
Border controls on imports or exports of pot remain in place.
The bills must now be studied by Commons and Senate committees before being voted into law.
The NDP broadly supported the objectives Thursday, but Conservatives such as leadership candidate Erin O’Toole say the government is “rushing” things.
The Liberals promised a broadbased public campaign to educate people on the dangers of early and prolonged marijuana use, the risks of high-potency products and the ability of marijuana to impair drivers’ judgment, especially when combined with alcohol or other drug use, and they pledged more research into the health impacts of marijuana use.
Right after the announcement, Addictions and Mental Health Ontario called for tax revenues to be poured back into health, public education and addictions treatment. But there is no commitment by the federal government to do so.
The move raises questions about how Canadians who have legally used marijuana might be treated at the border when they try to enter the U.S. Goodale said Canadians should be aware the U.S. has the “sovereign right” to deny entry to people who admit to smoking pot. With files from Rob Ferguson