Criminal Code  In addition, the government has refused to mandate the proper storage of cannabis in homes. The growing concern among jurisdictions where marijuana is already legal is that it is drawing more organized crime to operate the grow-ops and produce pot for illicit markets. This is one of the things that people told me when I was justice minister.

Criminal Code  The member said that if people had some alcohol in their houses, that this was the same as having a a small grow op. I do not get that all. Alcohol can be a problem in households, so the Liberals say that they will solve those problems by having a small grow op, and maybe the kids will not go after the alcohol and instead they will check on what is happening in the kitchen.

Criminal Code  I thought I received some good news a couple of weeks ago when a woman in my office, Cheri, said that I would be interested to know that the Liberals had made some changes about grow-ops in kitchens. I thought that was wonderful and that the Liberals had listened to us. However, the government said that the three feet was not high enough, that the plants would have to grow taller than that.

Criminal Code  The only promise I can make to the member of the NDP and indeed to all members of the NDP is that I have news for them. Once the government starts to legalize marijuana and there are grow ops in kitchens, impaired driving will go up dramatically. We will stand and bring it to the attention of this chamber. When the Liberals shrug their shoulders and say, “It is not us, the provinces must have screwed up”, we are not going to stand for that.

Criminal Code  They are the ones who are going to be doing this. The Liberals are turning our country into one where everyone can have a grow op in their kitchen and edibles will be available to everyone. The police services came before the committee. The hon. member should check their testimony. They said they would not be ready, but the government is saying that it wants legalization in place by Canada Day.

Justice committee  Do you think that's consistent with the legislation that will allow every house to have a small grow op consisting of four plants, three feet high? Do you think this is consistent with the government's concerns to keep this out of the hands of young people?

Cannabis Act  Could there be any greater access for children than to have four three foot plants in one's kitchen, have a mini grow-op in one's house, and somehow we are protecting children? Surely she has had that same criticism directed toward this legislation. This is why we are so vehement in our opposition to it.

Justice committee  I'm pleased to hear that. On the question of grow-ops, I used to hear for years, from the prosecutors and from police, that the proceeds from grow-ops weren't just to supply the domestic market; that in many cases this was the currency being used to bring more serious drugs into this country—the heroin, the cocaine, and others.

Business of Supply  Sadly, the carbon tax fails to address the environment and serves to make life even more expensive for Canadians, and yet the Prime Minister has promised that he will not raise taxes. This is not the Liberal record. Fifty years ago, the Liberals inherited a strong, growing and varied Canadian economy, and when they left in 1984, Canadians were still feeling the effects of Canada's worst recession since the Great Depression. The current Liberal government inherited Stephen Harper's zero-deficit balance sheet a little over three years ago, and over the last three years, the government has added $60 billion to the national debt.

Justice committee  So it's the currency for hard drugs and firearms. Presumably the customers of the grow-ops would be pretty pleased about the new legislation coming in that will be legalizing this and expanding the supply in Canada. Maybe you are not in a position to answer that point.

Safe Streets and Communities Act  Canadians are also concerned about the illicit drug trade. No Canadian wants to live next door to a grow op. In British Columbia, Surrey Fire Service conducted a study and found that a home with a grow op was 24 times more likely to catch fire than a home without one. Even more troubling is that these fires are not always reported because no one actually lives in those dwellings, but there are families living right next door or across the street.

Cannabis Act  I cannot imagine any easier way for children to get hold of marijuana than when their parents are starting to grow it in the kitchen. My concerns for children and teenagers do not end there. Let us consider the dangers for young people who may come in contact with marijuana edibles. This is an issue that is not properly addressed in Bill C-45.

Justice committee  Again, the whole problem with grow-ops--I hear about this everywhere I go in the country, from law enforcement agencies, from firefighters—is it is a growing health and safety problem, and again I've indicated to them that we are doing our very best to move forward in this direction, to send out the right message that this kind of activity for the purposes of trafficking is not tolerable.

Justice committee  I never sit down with people in the law enforcement business without their raising, at some point, the issues of drugs and drug trafficking. They tell me that, for instance, quite apart from how dangerous grow op facilities are to the neighbours and to the community, the pot that these traffickers or these people who are in the business of selling this product grow very often becomes the currency for some of the other drugs that come into this country, like heroin and cocaine and ecstasy.

Genetic Non-Discrimination Act  Canada is the only G7 nation not to have protections in place for citizens like him. Currently, there are 38,000 genome tests that can be done, and that number is growing exponentially, daily indeed. Canada has not kept pace with the science, and it is imperative that we do so now. It is our duty. Bill S-201 would prohibit service providers from demanding or requiring a person to disclose past results of genetic testing in order to exercise prejudice.