Thank you.
You know, on our fourth day of hearings, it's quite apparent that one of the major focuses of the testimony and the attention of committee members has been the impact of cannabis and cannabis legalization on young people, on youth. We've heard that Canadian youth are among the highest users of cannabis in the world, perhaps the second highest. We've heard about the impact on their health and their career prospects and the impact of legalization and criminalization on them. We've heard about brain development. We've heard that they apparently suffer from holding myths and misinformation about cannabis. We've heard advice from people about how to effectively talk to young people about cannabis. We've heard different thoughts about their access to cannabis and whether they do or don't have easier access to cannabis than liquor. We've heard about their attitudes towards cannabis, yet we haven't heard from a single young person at this committee.
Millions of Canadians use cannabis and have acknowledged it. They use it today, have used it, and will continue to use it. The parliamentary budget officer has estimated that somewhere between five million and seven million Canadians will use cannabis once this legislation comes into force, and of course, millions of Canadians, I think, voted very clearly last election for a legalized approach to cannabis, yet we haven't heard from a single, ordinary Canadian at this committee.
We have large, established producers of cannabis in this country right now that have been responsible, for I think a decade, for producing cannabis for the medicinal market. Dispensaries across this country, both in Ontario and British Columbia, and maybe in other provinces, have been very actively serving the market, mainly while politicians and police forces have quietly ignored them. We haven't heard from a single producer of cannabis or the dispensaries about their experience over a decade.
Finally, this legislation, we've heard, also seems, by design, to be excluding edibles and concentrates and non-smokable cannabis products, despite the health concerns and despite the obvious contradiction that the very purpose of this bill is to bring products out of the illicit market, to get rid of organized crime, and to regulate these products for the health and safety of Canadians, yet we haven't heard from a single producer of those products.
I think these are very important stakeholder groups, and I believe that it's important to hear from them for the committee's full consideration of the most comprehensive evidence on this legislation. Therefore, colleagues, I wish to serve notice that I am going to be moving the following motion, to be debated at some convenient point later in the day, because I want to give my colleagues a chance to think about it. The motion will read as follows:
“That pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), this Committee meet for an additional two days for the purpose of the consideration of Bill C-45, An Act respecting cannabis and to amend the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, the Criminal Code and other Acts, and that the chair be empowered to coordinate the witnesses, to a minimum of 32 witnesses (eight per stakeholder group), the resources, and scheduling necessary to complete this task in accordance with the following guidelines: (1) Witnesses are to represent the following stakeholder groups in four two-hour panel blocks per day: (i) existing Canadian licensed producers and dispensaries; (ii) producers of edible cannabis products and other non-smokable forms of cannabis; (iii) ordinary Canadians who made a written submission to this committee regarding Bill C-45; (iv) young Canadians, 15 to 24 years; (2) That witnesses for each panel block be allotted as follows: two Liberal, one Conservative, one NDP; (3) That witnesses be directed to prepare oral remarks for 10 minutes in length, and that the witnesses be invited to submit written statements prior to appearing; (4) That the meetings be held prior to September 30, 2017.”
Colleagues, to conclude, the purpose of this is not to hold up these hearings. I'm mindful of the government's timeline. It is September 14. I believe that we are meeting next week to hear from ministers. I want to give the clerk and the chair and the parties time to put their witnesses in, but I think extending these hearings for another week and a half to hear from these important groups would be very important.
I'm going to conclude by saying that I've heard from no one but 50-year-olds and 60-year-olds about how to talk to young people. I think it's time we heard from young people about their thoughts on this bill.