Close X
Thursday, October 31, 2024
ADVT 
National

Marijuana Still Illegal For Now In Canada, As Is Driving On Drugs: Justice Minister

The Canadian Press, 20 Jun, 2018 11:42 AM
    OTTAWA — The federal government is basking in the glow of its newly realized plan to legalize marijuana, but it is reminding Canadians that pot remains illegal in this country until the Cannabis Act goes into effect.
     
     
    The government's companion legislation on impaired driving is also expected to pass soon, said Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould, but she added that driving under the influence of drugs has always been — and will remain — against the law in Canada.
     
     
    "I urge all Canadians to continue to follow the existing law until the Cannabis Act comes into force," Wilson-Raybould told a news conference Wednesday in the foyer of the House of Commons.
     
     
    Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who has a news conference of his own scheduled for later in the day, was expected to provide more details on precisely when that might be.
     
     
    Bill C-46, a companion bill that Wilson-Raybould predicts will give Canada the strongest impaired-driving rules in the world, will also become law "in the near future," she said.
     
     
    Until then, "I would like to also remind the public that driving while impaired by drugs is, and will remain, illegal."
     
     
     
     
    It was clear, however, that there are still more questions than answers about what Canada's nascent legal-pot landscape will look like — how police will test motorists, what to do about those with prior marijuana convictions and just how the rules governing home cultivation will work.
     
     
    Quebec and Manitoba have already decided to ban home-grown pot, even though the federal bill specifies that individuals can grow up to four plants per dwelling.
     
     
    On Tuesday, the Senate voted to end its opposition to certain aspects of the federal bill, most notably the plan to permit Canadians to cultivate marijuana plants at home. A proposed Senate amendment would have prevented legal challenges to their constitutional right to do so.
     
     
    Wilson-Raybould called the legislation — which still requires royal assent to become law — "transformative" and predicted it would protect young people and keep organized crime out of the pot market.
     
     
    "C-45 marks a wholesale shift in how our country approaches cannabis," she said. 
     
     
    "It leaves behind a failed model of prohibition, a model that has made organized crime rich and young people vulnerable.... our shift in policy will protect youth from the health and safety risks of cannabis and keep those same criminals from profiting from its production, distribution and sale."
     
     
    Senators last week approved almost four dozen amendments to C-45. The government accepted 27 of them and tweaked two others. But it rejected 13 amendments.
     
     
     
     
    Conservative Sen. Claude Carignan attempted Tuesday to have the home-grow amendment reinstated — which would have sent the bill back to the House of Commons and could have set the stage for a protracted parliamentary battle between the two houses of Parliament.
     
     
    But senators voted 45-35 not to insist on that change.
     
     
    Sen. Yuen Pau Woo, leader of the independent group of senators, said C-45 was "a bit of a stress test" for the new, less partisan Senate.
     
     
    "I think the new Senate came out very well. We worked very hard on reviewing the bill, proposing amendments" but ultimately deferred to the will of the elected House of Commons, as unelected senators should, he said.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    Chocolate Milk, Juice No Longer To Be Sold In New Brunswick Schools

    Chocolate Milk, Juice No Longer To Be Sold In New Brunswick Schools
    A new nutrition policy unveiled Wednesday requires foods of a higher nutritional value, which are lower in saturated fat, sugar and sodium for public schools.

    Chocolate Milk, Juice No Longer To Be Sold In New Brunswick Schools

    Colten Boushie's Mother Says Racism Is On Full Display In Saskatchewan

    Colten Boushie's Mother Says Racism Is On Full Display In Saskatchewan
    The mother of a young Indigenous man who was shot and killed on a Saskatchewan farm says racism is on full display in the province every day.

    Colten Boushie's Mother Says Racism Is On Full Display In Saskatchewan

    Saskatchewan RCMP Preparing To Talk To Crown About Charges In Broncos Bus Crash

    Saskatchewan RCMP Preparing To Talk To Crown About Charges In Broncos Bus Crash
    Saskatchewan RCMP say they are preparing to talk to Crown prosecutors about potential charges in the Humboldt Broncos bus crash, but they can't say exactly when that will happen.

    Saskatchewan RCMP Preparing To Talk To Crown About Charges In Broncos Bus Crash

    Higher Fuel Costs Prompt BC Ferries To Remove Fuel Rebate And Increase Fares

    BC Ferries announced Tuesday that it will remove fuel rebates starting June 27.

    Higher Fuel Costs Prompt BC Ferries To Remove Fuel Rebate And Increase Fares

    Police Investigating After Body Found Near Popular Vancouver Beach

    Police Investigating After Body Found Near Popular Vancouver Beach
    VANCOUVER — Police say a body has been found in the water near a popular beach in Vancouver.

    Police Investigating After Body Found Near Popular Vancouver Beach

    Wake up and wake up! Rally in Surrey

    Wake up and wake up! Rally in Surrey
    Surrey's parents, the time has come to speak up and ask our elected politicians for an answer.

    Wake up and wake up! Rally in Surrey