The legalization of cannabis will not be for the month of July

Photo AFP

Boris Proulx

Thursday, 15 February 2018 16:39

UPDATE
Thursday, 15 February, 2018 23:03

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OTTAWA | The legalization of cannabis in Canada will be postponed for several weeks, has confirmed to the government yesterday, in the absence of a review fast enough by the Senate.

The Senate will take until June 7 to study the draft law of the Trudeau government to legalize cannabis.

It is the result of an agreement reached yesterday between the four groups of senators : conservatives, independents, independent liberals and liberals.

By doing this, they miss the target of the federal government, who wished that the Senate be in a rush to finish everything before the end of the month of April.

Not before August

Photo Boris Proulx

The federal minister of Health, Ginette Petitpas Taylor, and his parliamentary secretary responsible for the cannabis, Bill Blair, have officially waived yesterday to the target of the Trudeau government to legalize cannabis for the month of July.

This would have the effect of postponing the sale of the first joints legal at least until the month of August, as the government has already indicated that it would keep the illegal product between 8 and 12 weeks after the final adoption of the draft act, so that provinces, cities and companies of pot legal to be able to adjust.

“If you do the calculations… the legalization will not take place in July 2018 [as promised] “, confirmed yesterday the federal minister of Health, Ginette Petitpas Taylor.

New date

The minister did not wish to specify a new target date for the legalization.

According to the constitutionalist Benoît Pelletier, might obtain the royal assent — the final step for a bill to have the force of law — soon after the 7 June.

“It can take as little as 24 h, a time that the two houses [Senate and House of commons] agree, the royal assent can be obtained quite easily. “

According to this optimistic scenario, cannabis consumers will have to wait at least five weeks after the initially scheduled date of July 1st, as listed on several government documents. The process could also drag out even longer.

Already, the prime minister Justin Trudeau had raised doubts about the feasibility of this date in the framework of a maintenance end-of-year to the TVA network.

“It won’t be the 1st July. This is something that we are going to do for the next summer, ” said Mr. Trudeau to the moderator Pierre Bruneau in December.

Senators satisfied

Photo Boris Proulx

Larry Smith, conservative senator

The conservatives ‘leader in the Senate, the Quebec Larry Smith, believes that the canadian public will be a” 100% winner ” of the postponement of the legalization of a few weeks.

“We will take the time to do the job the way it should be for citizens of Canada […] and if we have amendments to make, the government will consider them “,-he rejoiced.

In Québec, the minister responsible has welcomed this report. “This is good news, we will have more time to prepare and to make the prevention, this is what we had requested,” said Lucie Charlebois yesterday.