Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  There was no leadership in the community for at least a month. We were vulnerable to outside community members coming in to buy marijuana or cigarettes and it took awhile for the emergency response unit to actually declare a pandemic on March 23. My apologies to the translators. I realize I have five minutes and not enough time.

COVID-19 Pandemic committee  The councils of Drayton Valley and neighbouring Brazeau County have worked together with various partners to create a new green economic economy. More than two weeks ago, I was informed that the new medical marijuana business needed financial assistance, and I sent an email to Minister Ng asking her for assistance for the community of Drayton Valley, to which I still haven't received a reply. This new business will create more than 50 permanent jobs in the area.

Public Safety committee  Under the legislation, the access to cannabis for medicinal purposes regulations, people make application for permits and authorizations for the growing of marijuana and for the dispensing of marijuana. One of the responsibilities of public safety portfolio partners, including the RCMP, is to conduct screening for security purposes as part of that process, so there was a transfer of funds for that.

Business of Supply  I have had the opportunity to use the Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer a number of times with regard to getting information that is pertinent to the government, particularly in the administration and enforcement of marijuana use before it was licensed and in other areas as well. When we get independent information, we can then make solid decisions. I think it would help those on the government side, particularly in their minority position, to make use of the $180 billion in infrastructure that they were talking about, as we know that the majority of it is in waiting from the first term of the government.

Resumption of debate on Address in Reply  Our millennials and those before asked our generation and the generations before for an opportunity. Instead, all they got was legalized marijuana. The generations that preceded them felt the dignity and honour of working, of building equity in their businesses and homes, but increasingly the youth of our generation are being denied that opportunity.

Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply  When I was the parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Veterans Affairs, we heard a lot about the use of medical marijuana by veterans for their treatment. I would be happy to work with the member for Vancouver East with respect to access to that. I know the parliamentary secretaries were announced today and there is a new Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Veterans Affairs, who I am sure would be happy to also assist in this regard.

Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply  I have a constituent in my community of Vancouver East who has been having difficulty accessing medical marijuana through the Veterans Affairs system. In fact, some veterans are having such grave difficulty that it is causing additional stress and distress in their lives. I am wondering if this is something the member can work with me to help resolve, not only for my constituents but I suspect for many people across the country as well.

Criminal Records Act  They said that the approach of previous Conservative and Liberal governments was not working to decrease the use of marijuana by our youth. If we look at statistics from 1980 by Statistics Canada, they show that minors represented 22% of marijuana users. By 2015, only 5.8% of marijuana users were aged 15 to 17.

Criminal Records Act  Marijuana is like any other substance. It is legal to drink alcohol, for example, but it can be addictive. I know what I am talking about. I know people who are addicted to alcohol. Marijuana can also be addictive.

Criminal Records Act  Let us face it, we are not the only ones. Many other countries have legalized or decriminalized marijuana. We only have to look at our closest and best trading partners, the good old U.S.A. The use of marijuana has been legalized and decriminalized in Alaska, California, Colorado, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, the District of Columbia, Mariana Islands and Guam.

Criminal Records Act  I have some personal experiences in my family, and I would argue that marijuana certainly is a gateway drug. I do not think we are seeing the full ramifications of the legalization of marijuana. We are discussing Bill C-93 this afternoon because the government is trying to come up with a quick fix for some flawed legislation to legalize marijuana.

Criminal Records Act  That is the craziness of it. We know from medical research that Canadians under the age of 25 who consume marijuana run a huge risk of mental impairment in future years. Why would we take that risk? That was why I opposed the legalization of marijuana. Now that marijuana is legalized in Canada, there is a step that the Liberals did not consider as they were ramming through marijuana legalization.

Criminal Records Act  All too often, what they share is an addiction to illicit substances such as marijuana and possibly hard drugs. This week, one of my constituents called me in a panic, once again because of marijuana and other drugs. She was looking for her daughter, whom she had not seen in a month.

Criminal Records Act  I will also say that within my family, marijuana has become important for my cousin who suffers from epilepsy. There was a time when he was smoking medicinal marijuana, and it was helping him with respect to his seizures. He was seeing fewer of them.

Criminal Records Act  It is because the work to know who would be eligible would have been a challenging and time-consuming process. Convictions are not listed as simple possession of marijuana. In order to know who would be eligible, officials would need to know who had a record for possession of an illegal substance, which falls under a specific category, schedule II, and then which of those was the simple possession of marijuana, meaning under 30 grams.