All eyes are on Canada this coming week as the Senate get set to finally vote on the Cannabis Act after 14 months of discussion, debate, and passing or defeating amendments.
If the bill to make recreational pot legal is passed by the Senators on Thursday, it moves back to the House of Commons (and could even come back to the Senate) before eventual hand-off for royal ascent to become law.
This means the provinces likely won’t start selling legal recreational weed to consumers for another 10-14 weeks as regulatory rules by the government are fine-tuned.
That slow progress is just as it should be according to Ontario independent Senator Tony Dean who is the sponsor of Bill C-45.
Credit: torontosun.com
“It could be the last week of August — it could be the beginning or mid-September,” Dean said of the availability of recreational pot.
“From where I sit, and I’m the sponsor of the bill, if it takes until the first week of October to get it all right, then we should take until the first week of October,” he said. “Canada will be the second or third jurisdiction globally (after Uruguay and Portugal, the latter which has decriminalized all drugs) to legalize recreational cannabis.”
“So we’re not the first but I think we will be the most cautious. So the world is watching Canada but I think Canada is seen as a pretty cautious follower of big trends where we’re not exactly considered a country that, in policy terms, takes big risks,” Dean added.
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The Senate is made up of 43 Independents, 32 Conservatives, 11 Liberals, six non-affiliated and 13 vacant seats for a total of 105 seats.
Dean has no predictions on the voting other than Bill C-45 has been a thorough vetting to help everyone make their decision.
“What I can tell you after 14 months in Parliament and review by five committees of the Senate and there again in committee and by third reading, we will have exhausted our examination of this legislation and every Senator will know everything that she or he needs to know to make an informed decision. Look I think this is good public policy. I think that the vote will be affirmative. I think our legislation will pass. ”
Just last Monday, the Senate committee looked at a clause-by-clause review of the bill.
Forty amendments were passed (29 of them proposed by Dean) including one that allows provinces and territories to ban home-grown weed with Quebec and Manitoba the only ones to move in that direction so far.
“This was an area that wasn’t clear and we thought it might get contested in court,” Dean explained.
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Another important amendment concerned penalties for carrying more cannabis than allowed (it’s currently up to 30 grams) or having more cannabis plants at home than allowed (it’s currently up to four plants.)
“Those will likely be ticketing offences,” said Dean. “Just like an administrative penalty. Just like a parking ticket. There would be no record.”
POT CONFERENCE DOUBLES IN SIZE
The timing of the 2nd annual O’Cannabiz Conference and Expo in Toronto couldn’t be better.
It starts June 7, the same day the Senate in Ottawa votes on Bill C-45 to legalize recreational weed.
“Yeah, I’d like to take credit for that but no that’s a coincidence — that’s perfect,” said O’Cannabiz founder-president Neill Dixon, who has also run Canadian Music Week for 36 years.
“Now things are really popping — the thing is exploding,” he said. “So the excitement is that Canada is the first G-7 country to legalize recreational pot, or will be.”
“It’s so big and it’s time has come. It’s pretty amazing,” Dixon added.
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Case in point: O’Cannabiz, which runs until June 9, has literally doubled in size in just one year, expanding from 25,000 square feet at the Sheraton Centre in 2017 to 50,000 square feet at the International Centre this year.
The exhibitors have also doubled from 100 to 200 exhibitors, the speakers from 75 to 150, and attendees from 3,000 to an expected 6,000.
Dixon says the delegate sessions getting the most attention have to do with technology, jobs and investing.
“Technology is sort of omnipresent in most of these sessions,” he said. “I guess the other big one, of course, is the career opportunities, the investment opportunities, and how do I get into a multi-billion dollar business if I don’t know where to start.”
“So there’s a really sort of big demand and need to know, from not only the public, but business professionals,” Dixon said.
Credit: torontosun.com
