Legalizing pot will not weed out organized crime
On Oct. 17, 2018, the Canadian government legalized the possession and use of recreational marijuana for persons over the age of 18. The government’s stated rationale was, in part, “to keep profits from going into the pockets of criminal organizations and street gangs.” One analog is Canada’s cigarette industry, which continues to fight an uphill […]
Cannabis legalization a Green ideal
The Green Party of Canada was the first federal party to advocate for the legalization of cannabis. In our view, criminalization only helped organized crime to reap benefits while using marijuana to introduce young Canadians to harder and more dangerous drugs. In 1998, the Green Party endorsed policies governing the production and distribution of marijuana […]
Permanent residents should pay the same price as Canadians who drive impaired
It has been more than a month since the Cannabis Act and its companion legislation, Bill C-46, Impaired Driving Act, have come into force. While the Cannabis Act itself was widely discussed in public, there was comparatively little debate about Bill C-46, which may have disastrous consequences for permanent residents in Canada. As per the […]
Weed or feed? A Canadian food security issue
In December, the University of Guelph and Dalhousie University released the 9th edition of Canada’s Food Price Report, and while the report paints a generally rosy picture of 2019 food prices, partly due to decreasing meat prices and small increases across most food categories, a sobering statistic from the report was that overall food prices are expected to increase by 1.5 to […]
‘Recreational marijuana is now officially legal in Canada. What do you think of the roll-out so far?’
Cameron Ahmad Liberal strategist “Consumption rates of recreational marijuana among Canadian youth are among the highest in the developed world. Every year, billions of dollars pour into the pockets of organized crime due to the failed policy of prohibition. Experts agreed that the government should develop a new system to protect young people and our […]
Health Canada parts ways with partner in cannabis-education campaign over links to opioid manufacturer
A group that partnered with Health Canada to hand out thousands of educational brochures on cannabis decided to scrap its distribution deal after the government added clauses barring it from accepting funds from pharmaceutical and cannabis companies. Drug Free Kids Canada (DFK), a registered charity, developed the Cannabis Talk Kit, a 24-page booklet designed to […]
My cannabis takeaway? Canada’s now only slightly crazier than usual
TORONTO—We come not to praise cannabis legalization, but to mock it. If there was ever a more confusing and chaotic rollout of government policy, it is hard to think of what that might be. The GST? The NEP? The Bay of Pigs? In fairness to the Trudeau Party, which came up with the idea of […]
Transport Minister Garneau looks to Indigenous and female students to address looming pilot shortage, says CATSA review still underway
Canada’s federal Transport Minister Marc Garneau says the federal government is looking to underrepresented groups, including Indigenous peoples and women, as sources for addressing Canada’s growing pilot shortage. In an email interview with The Hill Times last week, the former astronaut and veteran Liberal MP who has represented Notre-Dame-de-Grâce-Westmount, Que. since 2008, said the federal […]
Canada made history last week, and it was a long time coming
OTTAWA—Canada made history last week, becoming only the second country in the world to sell legal cannabis. And judging by long lineups on the first day of sale, the decision was a long time coming. Marijuana distributers are predicting shortages for several months as product has been flying off the shelves in provinces with storefront […]
Pot lobbying to remain high in wake of legalization, insiders say
Since the Liberals came to power with a promise of cannabis legalization, a sophisticated government relations industry has bloomed out of the historic policy shift, with lobbying skyrocketing and the companies registered since 2015 having doubled those in the arena compared to three years before. That comes as no surprise to any involved in the […]
