Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, ministers, for being here today.
Minister Wilson-Raybould, we heard testimony from Dr. Steven Hoffman, who is a professor of law at Osgoode Hall and an expert in international law. He is very concerned, as are we, the Conservative Party, that we don't break any international laws. He proposes that this Bill C-45 legislation would in fact violate three UN treaties: the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961, which is “to limit exclusively to medical and scientific purposes the production, manufacture, export, import, distribution of, trade in, use and possession of drugs”; the Convention on Psychotropic Substances, 1971; and the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, 1988, which is to establish as a criminal offence the purchase or cultivation of narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances for personal consumption. These are three UN treaties that basically we would not be complying with when this legislation passes.
I just want to know what your government plans to do in dealing with the other countries around the world who are a part of this treaty. Do you plan on just not complying and violating the treaties, or are you going to withdraw from the treaties? If, in fact, you do withdraw from the treaties, you have to give notice, and the deadline for notice for your proposed legislation of July 1, 2017, has passed. I just was wondering what your government is going to do about dealing with these international partners of ours.