Health committee  They can do a warning, a caution, or a referral to a community program, or charges can be laid. Under Bill C-45, that discretion would continue to apply where an offence is alleged to have been committed by a young person, but you were talking about the five grams, and again, tha

Health committee  I would just say that Bill C-45 is not promoting or condoning the use of cannabis, but it recognizes that a young person who does come into possession and uses a very small amount—five grams or less—would also be exposed to a greater harm that comes with a criminal record, which

Health committee  I think there are two parts to the question. I'll start, and then my colleague can finish. In terms of the ticketing offences, Bill C-45 requires that if a person is convicted pursuant to a ticket, the judicial record of that conviction on the ticket remains separate from other

Health committee  They were with regard to the charges laid for the possession of cannabis. There were 23,329 persons charged with cannabis-related offences. Of those, 76% were charged with possession of cannabis. We can provide the committee with the link for the Juristat, if you'd like.

Health committee  It came out in July. It's the Juristat for the year 2016 data.

Health committee  We don't have an actual estimate of costs, but what I can indicate to the committee is the magnitude of the charges and offences before the criminal justice system today. You may know that the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics releases an annual report on police-reported cri

Health committee  I would suggest that Bill C-45 strikes a welcome balance; however, the committee may hear from other witnesses as to other ways to address it. I think what's important to bear in mind, as I've mentioned, is that the Youth Criminal Justice Act would apply to young offenders who ar

Health committee  Bill C-45 proposes criminal offences that would prohibit anyone from selling or distributing cannabis to a young person. The intention with the bill is to keep it out of the hands of young persons. However, the bill does recognize the reality that young persons, even under a comp

Health committee  It is correct, as you've noted, the medical evidence documents the impact that cannabis can have on all Canadians, including on youth and the developing brain. Bill C-45 proposes to protect youth, as I've described, but it also recognizes not just the harm to the health of the yo

Justice committee  Sorry, I would like to add that when Bill C-226 was also being studied previously by the SECU committee, the issue was asked there as well. If you look at the successes in addressing impaired driving over the years, you see it's probably a combination of many things. Public edu

Public Safety committee  It's true; Bill C-226, as a private member's bill, reflects very much what was introduced as a government bill in the previous Parliament. It would not be for us to comment on what advice the sponsor himself has received on Bill C-226. When ministers of justice, including the on

Public Safety committee  We are appearing as subject matter experts to assist the committee in its study on this private member's bill. As lawyers, we provide advice to the Minister of Justice and not to the committee, so that is not something we are in a position to do. We are here to assist the committ

Public Safety committee  Again, I think we would find ourselves in a difficult situation with solicitor-client privilege on that, but certainly we could undertake to provide to the committee what I suspect the committee may already have access to, which is some of the materials that are normally released

Public Safety committee  I wouldn't have anything to add other than the fact that impaired driving provisions in the Criminal Code today and historically have been among the most litigated parts of the Criminal Code. When there is a reform in this area, be it small or significant, as private member's Bil

Public Safety committee  I'd like to affirm that, as you know, the Supreme Court recently pronounced on the issue of mandatory minimum penalties, the most recent case being R. v. Lloyd before April of this year, and before that, R. v. Nur. In both of those instances, the Supreme Court pronounced in a mor