moved for leave to introduce Bill C-446, an act to amend the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise in the House today to introduce a bill which seeks to amend the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act which I believe needs to be amended.
In my community, like many others in Canada, there is an alarming growth in the number of large scale marijuana grow operations. While law enforcement officials are putting in every effort to eliminate these operations and catch the individuals involved, they have expressed a great dismay to me that the courts do not seem to be giving these criminals adequate sentencing.
The purpose of the bill is to provide real sentences and real punishment for those convicted of growing or producing cannabis. It would provide a minimum sentence of imprisonment along with a minimum fine for first time offenders and greater punishment for repeat offenders.
I am tabling the bill because it is time to get tough on these large scale grow-ops and I believe that the bill will do just that.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)