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The bill that would make Canada the first major country in the world to legalize recreational marijuana has sailed through the Senate.
Still, some political gamesmanship remains before Canadians can shop at legal pot stores.
The Senate approved the Cannabis Act, Bill C-45, on Thursday night with more than 45 amendments. Many are technical in nature, but several others would make substantial and controversial changes.
If the House of Commons accepts the amendments, the bill could become law quickly. What appears more likely is a bout of legislative table tennis as the bill bounces between the two houses of Parliament.
Even after the bill receives Royal Assent, it will be another two or three months before the law takes force, giving cannabis producers and the provinces time to prepare. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he want the law in place this summer.
The Senate amendments include:
Power to the provinces on home growing: The Cannabis Act gives Canadians the right to grow up to four plants per household. Provinces are allowed to add further restrictions. In New Brunswick, for instance, pot must be grown indoors in separate, locked spaces or in locked enclosures outside. However, Quebec, Manitoba and Nunavut have proposed banning home-growing, raising the question of whether that thwarts the intent of the federal law. Quebec, in particular, has been adamant about its intention to ban home growing. The amendment would clarify that provinces have the right to ban home-growing.
Social sharing: The Cannabis Act contains tough new penalties — up to 14 years in jail — for providing marijuana to minors. Critics said that raised the prospect of a 19-year-old, the legal age in most provinces, facing a criminal charge for passing a joint to an 18-year-old at a party. The Senate amendment would make it a ticketable offence for an adult to share up to five grams of pot with a youth who is up to two years younger. Providing more than five grams of marijuana would still be a criminal offence, though.
Swag ban: The Cannabis Act already prohibits mass advertising and many other forms of promotion, including endorsements and sponsorships. The amendment would also prohibit cannabis branding on merchandise such as T-shirts and ball hats. Companies say they need to create brand awareness in order to compete with the black market and convince customers to buy legal products. Supporters of the ban say such swag is a stealthy form of promotion that will encourage more consumption of pot.
Revealing the identities of cannabis company shareholders: People who have invested in the hot cannabis sector would have their identities made public under an amendment aimed at preventing organized crime from infiltrating the industry. Key people in cannabis companies, including directors of parent companies, would already be subjected to security clearances. The amendment requires companies to make public the names of directors and officers of organizations and parent corporations that have cannabis licences. The names of shareholders would also be made public; in the case of public companies, that would include those owning more than five per cent of shares.
Sen. Claude Carignan, who proposed the amendment, warned that “anonymous rich investors” using tax havens in the Cayman Islands, the Bahamas and other countries had poured at least $165 million into legal Canadian cannabis producers. Such tax havens could be a front for organized criminals, he said. Senator Serge Joyal said Canadian police authorities already reported that organized crime had infiltrated the medical cannabis sector.
Other senators said that, while some might object to the use of tax havens, they were not illegal, and companies in other industries did not have to make their ownership public. Sen. Yuen Pau Woo pointed out that simply revealing the names of owners did not identify whether they were “good guys or bad guys.”
Senators also approved an amendment from former Ottawa police chief Vern White that said police would not have to keep alive any cannabis plants they seized from residences as evidence.
jmiller@postmedia.com
twitter.com/JacquieAMiller
查看原文...
Still, some political gamesmanship remains before Canadians can shop at legal pot stores.
The Senate approved the Cannabis Act, Bill C-45, on Thursday night with more than 45 amendments. Many are technical in nature, but several others would make substantial and controversial changes.
If the House of Commons accepts the amendments, the bill could become law quickly. What appears more likely is a bout of legislative table tennis as the bill bounces between the two houses of Parliament.
Even after the bill receives Royal Assent, it will be another two or three months before the law takes force, giving cannabis producers and the provinces time to prepare. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he want the law in place this summer.
The Senate amendments include:
Power to the provinces on home growing: The Cannabis Act gives Canadians the right to grow up to four plants per household. Provinces are allowed to add further restrictions. In New Brunswick, for instance, pot must be grown indoors in separate, locked spaces or in locked enclosures outside. However, Quebec, Manitoba and Nunavut have proposed banning home-growing, raising the question of whether that thwarts the intent of the federal law. Quebec, in particular, has been adamant about its intention to ban home growing. The amendment would clarify that provinces have the right to ban home-growing.
Social sharing: The Cannabis Act contains tough new penalties — up to 14 years in jail — for providing marijuana to minors. Critics said that raised the prospect of a 19-year-old, the legal age in most provinces, facing a criminal charge for passing a joint to an 18-year-old at a party. The Senate amendment would make it a ticketable offence for an adult to share up to five grams of pot with a youth who is up to two years younger. Providing more than five grams of marijuana would still be a criminal offence, though.
Swag ban: The Cannabis Act already prohibits mass advertising and many other forms of promotion, including endorsements and sponsorships. The amendment would also prohibit cannabis branding on merchandise such as T-shirts and ball hats. Companies say they need to create brand awareness in order to compete with the black market and convince customers to buy legal products. Supporters of the ban say such swag is a stealthy form of promotion that will encourage more consumption of pot.
Revealing the identities of cannabis company shareholders: People who have invested in the hot cannabis sector would have their identities made public under an amendment aimed at preventing organized crime from infiltrating the industry. Key people in cannabis companies, including directors of parent companies, would already be subjected to security clearances. The amendment requires companies to make public the names of directors and officers of organizations and parent corporations that have cannabis licences. The names of shareholders would also be made public; in the case of public companies, that would include those owning more than five per cent of shares.
Sen. Claude Carignan, who proposed the amendment, warned that “anonymous rich investors” using tax havens in the Cayman Islands, the Bahamas and other countries had poured at least $165 million into legal Canadian cannabis producers. Such tax havens could be a front for organized criminals, he said. Senator Serge Joyal said Canadian police authorities already reported that organized crime had infiltrated the medical cannabis sector.
Other senators said that, while some might object to the use of tax havens, they were not illegal, and companies in other industries did not have to make their ownership public. Sen. Yuen Pau Woo pointed out that simply revealing the names of owners did not identify whether they were “good guys or bad guys.”
Senators also approved an amendment from former Ottawa police chief Vern White that said police would not have to keep alive any cannabis plants they seized from residences as evidence.
jmiller@postmedia.com
twitter.com/JacquieAMiller
查看原文...
