I'm sorry. With my Liberal colleague's indulgence, I'd like to make a motion to amend subclause 62(2), which comes before the LIB-11 amendment. I'm going to move it from the floor, if I might.
It has to do with a conversation we had yesterday about the prohibition in this bill banning the importation or exportation of cannabis except as provided for by this bill. I didn't move my amendment there. I'm going to move my amendment now to subclause 62(2). This is the part of the bill that does authorize the importation and exportation of cannabis. It says currently:
Licences and permits authorizing the importation or exportation of cannabis may be issued only in respect of cannabis for medical or scientific purposes or in respect of industrial hemp.
That's the status quo we have now. My amendment would be to permit the import and export of recreational cannabis. I'll speak to it in a moment and give you the wording that I worked out with the legislative counsel yesterday.
The amendment reads: “Licences and permits authorizing the importation or exportation of cannabis may be issued.” Basically, everything after the word “issued” in line 31 would be struck. I'll speak briefly to that, if I may.
As I said, in my opinion, there are many countries in the world that are looking at legalizing recreational cannabis. I've talked to many people in the industry who tell me that this is a multi-billion dollar industry in which Canada currently stands at the forefront. I talked to a leading manufacturer of medicinal cannabis who said that he is contacted every week by businesses outside of Canada who want to learn about their business and to partner.
I think it's only a matter of time before other jurisdictions—besides Uruguay—legalize recreational cannabis. France could legalize cannabis next year. If they do, I think this legislation should at least permit the exportation and importation of cannabis products between those two countries. If the product is legal in both countries, why would we not want to give our business community and those who are producing cannabis the ability to trade in that commodity?
Interestingly, we're going to allow licensed producers to produce and sell cannabis within Canada. We're going to make that decision. Why would we want to hamstring our business community and say that they can't do that with another country that comes to the same decision?
Finally, of course, it is the case that currently this bill would allow the importation and exportation of cannabis for medical or scientific purposes or for industrial hemp. To me, it makes sense that we maintain Canada's competitive advantage. I think Canada can be a global leader as we develop the intellectual property and more cannabis strains under a very wisely regulated environment, which this bill purports to set out, where we have quality cannabis that's quality controlled and where the dosages are controlled, properly labelled, and not marketed to children. If we can ship wine to France, we should be able to ship cannabis there if, as an example, France decides as a country to take the same approach to legalization that we do.