Joël Lightbound

[Cannabis Act, May 30th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the parliamentary secretary for the great question, because if we look at the licensed producers in Canada, out of the 43, 30 were approved under the previous government. I would suggest that the member who spoke before me ask the former leader of his party, who approved most of them, how the process works. He would learn that it is arm's length, that it works very well, and that there is no political interference whatsoever.

[Cannabis Act, May 30th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I would answer by simply asking this. How can we believe the Conservatives when the approach that they defended for 10 years, and they still do to this day, has failed so miserably?

When up to 20% of young Canadians under the age of 18 report that they have smoked, that is among the highest rates in the world. For youth 18 to 25, it is 30%. That is the current approach. When criminal organizations generate profits estimated to be $7 billion a year through the sale of cannabis, that is the current approach. That is the approach they are defending.

The Conservatives can put their heads as deep as they want in the sand and pretend that the current approach is working, but it is not. I am not the only one saying this. The Barreau du Québec, les directeurs de santé publique du Québec, The New York Times, The Economist, which is not exactly a leftist magazine, have come out with the quite clear position that prohibition is not working. We need a new approach, and I am very proud to be a part of the government that has the lucidity and the responsibility to move forward with a new approach to cannabis because the current one has failed.

[Cannabis Act, May 30th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I want to begin by saying that I will be sharing my time with the member for Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley.

First of all, I want to say how proud I am to be part of a government that has the courage, the audacity, and most importantly the insight to see things as they really are. What is the reality in Canada right now? The reality is that the prohibition of cannabis is not working. According to Statistics Canada, even though cannabis is illegal, 12% of Canadians have used it over the past year. A more recent CBC survey showed that the real number was 17%.

This means that, unfortunately, 17% of Canadians are unwillingly contributing to a criminal-run market that generates staggering profits for organized crime year after year. We are talking an estimated $7 billion per year. The current system also forces five million otherwise law-abiding, hard-working, tax-paying Canadians to do business with criminals, thereby increasing their risk of exposure to violence and other drugs. Even possession of a small amount of cannabis can saddle them with a criminal record for life.

We are jeopardizing Canadians' health by forcing them to do business with criminals who do not care about the quality and safety of what they sell. Dealers do not care about what they sell, nor do they care about whom they sell it to. Who buys marijuana from criminals? Do dealers make sure their customers are not minors? The way things stand in Canada, it is easier for minors to get marijuana than it is for them to get alcohol or cigarettes, and the prevalence of marijuana consumption is higher among underage and young Canadians than anywhere else in the OECD.

This is a problem because nobody here wants cannabis to be a part of everyday life. We know how it can affect the developing brain, and we need to take a different approach precisely because it is not a harmless substance. The current approach is truly disastrous for our young people.

Everything I just described was the result of prohibition. To those who defend the status quo, who wrap themselves in virtue on the other side of the House by sticking their heads so far down in the sand that they do not see reality for what it is, to them I ask what they would propose.

What is it that they are proposing? Is it more of the same, the same failure for our kids, the same failure for our communities, the same failure for Canadians?

If we keep doing what we have always done, we will keep getting what we have always gotten. The current approach is a failure. It needs to be changed. It needs to be changed responsibly. This is what we told Canadians, and this is precisely what we are doing.

The proposed cannabis act that we are debating tonight would create a legal framework to allow for the establishment of a regulated industry that provides controlled access to cannabis for adult Canadians. It would establish a system that over time would displace the illicit market for cannabis and keep profits out of the hands of organized crime. It would better protect youth by establishing a strict set of controls designed to restrict their access to cannabis.

The new system will also help protect the health of adult Canadians by ensuring that the cannabis available on the legal market is produced in a controlled environment, correctly labelled, and free of any additives or dangerous chemical products.

This framework will also ease the burden on our judicial system, since we will no longer be cracking down on Canadians for the possession of a small quantity of cannabis. Those are the objectives of Bill C-45, which is before the House this evening.

I would like to highlight some of specific provisions in the proposed cannabis act, and describe how these parts of the bill would achieve these objectives. Let me begin with the parameters for legal access to cannabis so that the current illegal market is diminished and ultimately displaced.

Our government has made it clear that it is taking a public health approach to cannabis legalization and regulation, and that the legal production, distribution, and sale of the substance will be subject to strict regulatory controls and standards. This means that any business seeking to serve as a commercial producer or seller of cannabis will need to first have a licence or other type of government authorization.

Under this approach, governments, whether they be provincial or federal, would have the ability to establish licensing requirements for businesses in order to keep criminals out and to allow the participation of legitimate businesses. These requirements are also designed to make sure that legally produced cannabis is not diverted to the illegal market, and that, conversely, illegally produced cannabis does not end up on store shelves.

The government and I, mostly definitely, are confident that Bill C-45 sets the conditions for a legal and appropriately regulated cannabis industry to emerge across Canada that will displace the current illegal market. Our government is also confident that the cannabis available through the regulated supply chain will be safer than the cannabis that is available on the streets today.

This brings me to the objective I outlined earlier, namely, to better protect the health of Canadian adults who decide to use cannabis. Bill C-45 proposes to implement a comprehensive regulatory framework that would establish national product quality and safety standards, as well as packaging and labelling standards. This framework will better protect the health of Canadians. This evening I heard a member across the way talking about ticketing, but that would never happen and organized crime would still be in the equation. What we want to do is remove organized crime from the equation.

Bill C-45 also includes other provisions to better protect young people, including a specific prohibition, as defined under criminal law, from selling or providing cannabis in any form to anyone under the age of 18. Anyone found guilty of selling cannabis to a youth could face up to 14 years in prison.

To further support our government's objective of protecting youth, Bill C-45 would make it illegal to sell products that appeal specifically to youth. Bill C-45 would also enact a comprehensive suite of advertising restrictions designed to protect youth from promotions and other messaging that could encourage them to use cannabis. These provisions, modelled on similar rules that have been used successfully to protect youth from inducements to use tobacco, would prohibit any advertising that could make cannabis appealing to a young person.

Taken together, these provisions in Bill C-45 would establish a system that would provide adult Canadians with access to legal cannabis through a controlled market, would decrease the demand for cannabis from the illicit market, and diminish the role played by organized crime. At the same time, the bill would introduce rigorous controls to ensure that cannabis is not sold or marketed to youth, and that legal cannabis is produced and sold in accordance with appropriate regulatory standards.

As I mentioned, Bill C-45 also sets out to minimize the repercussions and social harms associated with criminalizing the possession of small quantities of cannabis. For anyone who ends up with a criminal record for possession of a small quantity of cannabis, those repercussions may include travel restrictions or diminished job prospects. Criminalization also affects the legal system because it overburdens our police resources and our criminal justice system.

Bill C-45 fixes those problems by scrapping the strict prohibition on possession of a small quantity of cannabis and authorizing adult Canadians to possess up to 30 grams of dried cannabis in public.

For youth, Bill C-45 would also seek to avoid the negative lifelong consequences of possessing very small amounts of cannabis. Bill C-45 proposes that youth under 18 years of age would not be subject to criminal prosecution for possession of up to five grams of cannabis. Our government is also committed to working with the provinces and territories to encourage the creation of non-criminal provincial offences that would prohibit youth from possessing any amount of cannabis. This approach would provide police with the authority to seize any amount of cannabis found in the possession of a young person while not rendering them liable to criminal sanctions, which I think any sensible person would agree to.

Alongside this sea change, another key goal for our government is to ensure that Canadians who need medical marijuana can continue to obtain it.

To conclude, I will say that I am sure about one thing. The current policy, prohibition, is a failure. We need to change how we deal with cannabis, and our very strict regulatory framework for cannabis legalization will have some very positive consequences.

I think it is an idea whose time has come.

[Extension of Sitting Hours, May 30th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, the parliamentary secretary has referred several times to the government’s ambitious plan for Canada. Indeed, we all acknowledge that this ambition for Canada was sorely lacking during the 10 years under the Harper government.

Job creation rates hit their lowest point since the Second World War, with GDP growth among the lowest in the G7 and G8. We can see that with the progressive policies the government has put forward, 250,000 full-time jobs have been created in recent months. We now have an unemployment rate among the lowest in recent years, and not only that, but we have also lifted 300,000 children out of poverty through the Canada child benefit.

The parliamentary secretary talked about infrastructure. Does he not think that the reason our colleagues on the other side of the House do not want to sit as long and do not want us to put forward this ambitious agenda, which is working, is precisely that they do not want our government to achieve these results, that Canadians sorely need, and what they voted for in the last election?

[Criminal Code, May 19th, 2017]

Madam Speaker, I thank the member for her excellent speech.

Just as alcohol impaired driving is illegal, so is drug impaired driving. However, over the past few years, there has been greater awareness regarding drunk driving. When Canadians go out and plan to have a drink, they know they need to have a designated driver or take a taxi to get home. There is not the same level of awareness when it comes to drugs.

Bill C-46 gives police officers the tools to test drivers. It also sends a very clear message that we have a zero tolerance policy when it comes to drug impaired driving.

In the member's opinion, just how much would public awareness be raised as a result of giving police officers additional tools and setting penalties that would enable prosecutors to properly prosecute drug-impaired drivers?

[Business of Supply, May 18th, 2017]

Madam Speaker, as I said, we are assessing how to best work with the different stakeholders and health research professionals.

[Business of Supply, May 18th, 2017]

Madam Speaker, I want to thank the member for Saanich—Gulf Islands for her intervention.

I enjoy working with her, too, and I think we are ready to work with all members of the House on this issue to see how we can better serve Canadians living with autism spectrum disorder.

That is exactly what we are doing when we support projects like the Sinneave Family Foundation or Autism Speaks Canada, for example. That is also what we are doing through investments in the Canadian Institutes of Health Research to support research.

Money and resources have been allocated, and investments are being made to support families, to invest in research, and to try to find a cure. Right now we need to look at every available opportunity to work effectively within our our respective jurisdictions with various stakeholders on autism spectrum disorder.

[Business of Supply, May 18th, 2017]

Madam Speaker, we are committed to supporting people and their families. We are doing it already through research.

Through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Government of Canada has invested $39.1 million over the past few years to support scientific research into autism spectrum disorder in order to have better data and better analyses, and to make advancements in treatment.

We are also investing $15 million to give persons with developmental disabilities better access to all the services available to them and better access to the job market. This is possible partly through our support for the Sinneave Family Foundation.

We continue to support the ready, willing and able initiative mentioned earlier. We continue to invest in the Canadian Institutes of Health Research to find solutions, improve the quality of life of children living with ASD, and help their families have better access to the job market and the services they need.

As I said, we are in the process of determining, as we have already been doing with several interest groups, how we can improve the quality of life of Canadians affected by ASD.

[Business of Supply, May 18th, 2017]

Madam Speaker, I think all of us on both sides of the House agree that autism spectrum disorder is a real disorder that affects thousands of families across the country, and that we need to do as much as we can to help in terms of research and in terms of care.

That said, we are assessing the proposition by CASDA and we are looking at ways in which to support partners and researchers across the country to make sure that autism spectrum disorder gets the funding needed for research and for accessibility legislation, as we have mentioned, and help for the families who are affected by this.

[Business of Supply, May 18th, 2017]

Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his question.

He mentioned the late hon. Jim Flaherty, and yes, many initiatives were instituted under the previous government. One of them was the ready, willing and able program, which we continue to support. We have also maintained funding for autism spectrum research. As I said in my speech, the Canada Institutes of Health Research invested $39 million over five years in autism research.

Some of these initiatives were set up by the previous government, and I commend it for that. We have to maintain these initiatives and pursue research in those areas that are under federal jurisdiction. We have to support the provinces, which are responsible for delivering health care services, and one way to do that is through research and data that enable them to provide better care to Canadians.

I also want to remind the House that our latest budget includes a new amount for disabled children, which can be up to $2,800 per child, in addition to the Canada child benefit. We are also going ahead with a legislative initiative from the Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities that will remove barriers to entry for people with autism spectrum disorder and make our country and our society among the most open and inclusive in the world.