Threats from conservative politicians may cause delays to Canada’s highly anticipated recreational launch in July, due to hindering the passage of two influential bills directed towards specific regulations.
The bills C-45 and C-46, geared towards the consumption and sales of marijuana, as well as a set of guidelines for driving under the influence, will be reviewed in January. Though, Conservative senators are stating that for a proper examination of the regulations, the reviewal process it could take a minimum of eight months. This could delay recreational legalization to possibly the end of next year or even 2019.
“I think we have to do our job properly, and that means months,” Conservative Senator Claude Carignan said in an interview. “The House took eight months to study the bills. It will probably take the same timeline to do our job properly.”
Conservative members believe the bills aren’t close to being ready in their current stages. Carignan stated that neither bill resolves some of the significant issues, such as employee drug tests, training for police forces, taxes and the impact on the country’s youth.
The decision to postpone the passage of the two bills could have severe consequences for provincial governments as well as small business. Marijuana production has increased in preparation to meet demands and the government has given out several licenses ahead of the deadline to the growers. In addition, police officials have initiated a training process their officers on new marijuana protocol.
Carignan argued that business owners should not be stunned if there is a delay, seeing that a final set of regulations was not put into in place when the process began. “[They] take a risk if they adopt a plan… without legislation in place adopted by both houses. My recommendation is to take their time and don’t take an unusual business risk.” said Carignan.
On the other hand, if other senators attempt to accelerate the process, it can impede Conservative efforts to delay the bills’ passages and all will go as planned.
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