The federal government’s recreational cannabis legislation has passed almost all of the necessary hurdles.
Senators have passed the latest version of the long-debated legislation, the Trudeau government has announced a date for legalization, and now we’re awaiting Royal Assent, which is expected to happen within days.
New Brunswick Green Party leader David Coon says he’s didn’t expect a lot of back-and-forth between the House of Commons and the Senate.
“Ultimately, they [senators] are not elected, so there’s only so much sober thought that a legislation can bare,” says Coon.
“They made some changes and a number of those were accepted at the House of Commons level.”
I’m thrilled to see that the @SenateCA has approved Bill C-45 – the last step before this important legislation receives Royal Assent. We’re on the cusp of a sensible, responsible and equitable cannabis policy – I look forward to saying more tomorrow morning. #C45
— Ginette Petitpas Taylor (@GPTaylorMRD) June 19, 2018
While most of the Senate’s amendments were accepted, the government did reject a proposal allowing provinces and territories to ban home-grown marijuana.
Coon says he wasn’t shocked to see some changes to the original bill and doesn’t think anyone expected it to pass without some amendments.
“That only generally happens with legislation in New Brunswick,” he says, “where government orders its members not to accept any proposed amendments to bills.”
