Highlights: Bill c-45 senate speeches

On June 7, 2018, the Senate of Canada passed Bill C-45 with forty-nine amendments.  It will now go back to the House of Commons where it will be either rejected or accepted with the amendments before going back again to the Senate for final acceptance.

What follows are some of the highlights of the speeches made by Senators.

Senator Woo:

My third message is as follows: The best way to reduce those harms of cannabis consumption is, in fact, to legalize and regulate that market. You have already heard the many arguments for legalization and against the criminalization of simple possession of marijuana. We know what these harms are: stigmatization, exclusion, the disproportionate impact on Indigenous peoples and minorities and so on and so forth. But I want to go a bit further and say that the logic of legalizing the cannabis industry means we have to give that industry the best chance of succeeding. I’m not sure we fully understood that part of the equation, and I encourage senators to think more deeply about what that means as we monitor the industry with great diligence and make sure that legalization does, in fact, succeed and that we are not putting in place regulations or restrictions on the industry that are overly severe.

Senator Beyak:

Colleagues should consider, in all good conscience, simply defeating this divisive, complicated, costly, harmful bill and, instead, ask the other place to decriminalize marijuana immediately and then craft a bill that is worthy of the concerns that Canadians have brought to us over these last few weeks.

Senator Martin:

In my vision for Canada, it is not to become the best through the legalization of an illicit drug in every other federal jurisdiction in the world, other than Uruguay, but perhaps through saying “no” to Bill C-45. I agree that we should decriminalize and that we should look at that seriously — and perhaps legalization — but when it’s a better time. Right now, with the body of evidence, the growing concerns and the growing number of calls and emails that we are all receiving, I feel as though this is not the time and that the risks of legalization, no matter the financial benefits, are too high.

Senator Jean-Guy Dagenais:

I am troubled to see us all forced into playing roles in a pathetic play, not to say a masquerade, by the master of costume changes in the other place. I expect the vote on Bill C-45, after all the work done by our committees and by this chamber, to reveal an unprecedented political blindness, all to please a politician who promised to legalize pot in Canada.

Today, I am troubled to see how little credit some of you gave to the sincere testimony of the physicians, experts, police officers, victims and politicians who came to tell us about the serious consequences that will arise if the Liberal government’s Bill C-45 is passed.

I am deeply troubled to see that many of my colleagues, especially on the other side of the aisle, are prepared to ignore their advice purely for political reasons. I put it that way because I don’t believe for a single second that all of you have collectively and simultaneously lost the independence you claim to have.

Hon. Jean-Guy Dagenais:


Honourable senators, I rise to tell you how troubled I am by the debate we have just had, mainly this week.
I am troubled to see us all forced into playing roles in a pathetic play, not to say a masquerade, by the master of costume changes in the other place. I expect the vote on Bill C-45, after all the work done by our committees and by this chamber, to reveal an unprecedented political blindness, all to please a politician who promised to legalize pot in Canada.

We have all worked hard, you and I, to fully understand the impact of this law. We did our job, despite being given limited time to study such an important social bill.

Today, I am troubled to see how little credit some of you gave to the sincere testimony of the physicians, experts, police officers, victims and politicians who came to tell us about the serious consequences that will arise if the Liberal government’s Bill C-45 is passed.

I am deeply troubled to see that many of my colleagues, especially on the other side of the aisle, are prepared to ignore their advice purely for political reasons. I put it that way because I don’t believe for a single second that all of you have collectively and simultaneously lost the independence you claim to have. I will come back to that in a minute.

I am also troubled to see that our Senate is prepared to ignore the constitutional rights of the provinces, which I consider to be an indefensible position for people as well-informed as you. I am troubled to see you rejecting the perfectly justified request of Indigenous peoples to postpone marijuana legalization by a year so we can all learn about the problems they fear in their communities. So much for reconciliation, to use the current Prime Minister’s words.

I have a question for you. Why is it so urgent that we pass this bill on June 7, 2018? Why are you letting the government make you do this? I refuse to believe you’ve all naively bought into the idea that the government is legalizing marijuana for the good of Canadians. Before voting, you all had a chance to express your views on Bill C-45 or certain aspects of it. I would just like to review what senators on your side said about it.

Senators Dean, Gagné, Galvez, Lankin, Mégie, Moncion and Woo all raised concerns about how marijuana affects the brain. The doctors we all heard from in committee made similar comments. Senators Boniface, Dupuis, Galvez, Gold and Pratte all raised the issue of THC content in marijuana, and leading experts backed that up in committee too.

Senator Dean wisely spoke to the impact of marijuana legalization on Indigenous communities, and First Nations confirmed that in committee. Senators Moncion and Lankin talked about the problem of home growing. In their testimony at committee, police officers spoke to that too. Senators Mégie, Petitclerc and Woo supported the idea of raising the legal age for marijuana. Lastly, at one point or another, Senators Gagné, Galvez, Hartling, Lankin, Mégie, Moncion, Petitclerc and Pratte all pointed out shortcomings in terms of public education and awareness programs about marijuana.

I am looking at all of you and I ask you this: what changes were made to Bill C-45 that reflect the fears and concerns you so clearly expressed? I don’t see a single substantial amendment. Why? Because the majority of you voted against other amendments. My question today is this: were you asked or perhaps told to pass the marijuana legalization bill as written? That is the only likely answer, in my opinion.

Where is your independence? Where is your ability to change things? Where is your consistency in addressing your own apprehensions? Was that all swept under the rug because you were suddenly enlightened by goodness knows what, perhaps divine intervention, or perhaps Saint Justin himself?

What we do here today is important to the credibility of the Senate and of its senators. Some observers have even speculated that our role would be vindicated by this bill, that our role would regain some credibility as a result of our deliberations on this matter. It’s a shame. I think that passing this bill would be a mistake, and I hope I don’t live long enough to witness the damage it causes to our society.

Hon. Lynn Beyak:

Honourable senators, I rise today to address Bill C-45. I want to thank Senator Frances Lankin for mentioning that she had spoken to her hometown folks earlier. I think nothing is more important to us and our work here in the Senate than talking to the people.

In my own region, the Indigenous and non-Indigenous population alike are now visibly nervous as the unintended consequences of this bill become known through all the media reports and the many witnesses who have come and testified to us that they are simply not ready.

Most importantly, I think we’re missing something in that we have a mandate from this Liberal government. There are 36 million Canadians. Almost seven million voted Liberal, six million voted Conservative, four million voted others, and 10 million children under 18 had no vote at all.

To say that the Liberals have a mandate to do something that is going to fundamentally change the face of Canada is simply not true. Voters voted for decriminalization, no record, no jail time. They voted to protect children. They didn’t vote for broken international drug treaties; difficult drug transportation enforcement on our roads, rails and in the sky; a blemish on our stellar international reputation; and probable travel restrictions to the USA, our closest neighbour on the longest undefended border in the world and federally enforced laws prohibiting marijuana use there.

The number of amendments to clauses with obvious harm to children should give us all pause. Those children have no voice. The amendments have been proposed or adopted and should be carefully considered in the other place, but before that, I would like us to exercise our sober second thought.

What is the rush? Canada has survived without legal recreational marijuana and thrived for 150 years. Medicinal marijuana is already available for anyone who needs it.

Colleagues should consider, in all good conscience, simply defeating this divisive, complicated, costly, harmful bill and, instead, ask the other place to decriminalize marijuana immediately and then craft a bill that is worthy of the concerns that Canadians have brought to us over these last few weeks.

I think that would be much more suitable than this. A bill that has zero defects, that strives to do it right the first time for our precious children.

Hon. Yuen Pau Woo:

Colleagues, even at the late hour at which we are expected to make the final vote on Bill C-45, I understand there will be a gaggle of reporters in the foyer looking for comment on what we did and how we decided.

As I thought about what I might say to the media, I decided to turn my reflections into a short speech, in part because what I say to the media will also be what I say to my family, my friends, my community and my constituents when I go back to British Columbia.

As many of you will go back to your provinces and hometowns this weekend, I imagine much of the chatter around the kitchen tables and in church halls, or wherever you might hang out, will be questions on what happened that Thursday in the Senate when we were asked to vote on such a consequential bill.

Colleagues, this is what I will say. Let me, first of all, express that I hope the bill does pass. And based on that assumption, I will have a few messages to share.

The first is that the Senate did its job. We have already heard about the extensive review throughout the normal process of this chamber, augmented by a special process whereby five committees reviewed this bill in its various components and spent more than 215 hours studying those various elements.

Countless other meetings took place outside of the formal structure — meetings organized by the sponsor and meetings organized by interested senators. I remember Senator Oh organizing a meeting of the Canadian Association of Paediatric Health Centres, and others who have organized meetings with community leaders, academic researchers, medical specialists, police officers and so on.

The hard work that has gone into the review of this bill for over eight months is evidenced in the nearly 50 amendments that we now see before us.

Now, some of you have interpreted the numerous amendments as a sign of failure, as a sign that the bill was not right in the first place, that it is an excuse and a reason to jettison the bill. I see it quite differently.
The fact that we have about 29 amendments that are so-called technical improvements to the bill is testimony to the fact that this upper house did its job in carefully studying the legislation, finding ways to improve it, even small ways, and being able to persuade the government to accept that. What better testimony to the role of the chamber of sober second thought?

The Senate has also done its job because of the way in which we organized our debate in these last few days but also throughout the committee review process.

I want to remind colleagues that the idea of a structured debate was put forward by none other than our sponsor at the very beginning of the process. I wrote to all leaders back in November 2017 asking for precisely this kind of structured process where we could go through the thematic areas of the bill and have a debate that was cohesive and contiguous. That’s the type of debate we have had over the last few days and, as Senator Omidvar has recommended, I hope we will consider it for debates on other bills.

I commend my fellow leaders for their foresight and wisdom in agreeing to the timeline we had, working collaboratively. That, again, is evidence of a new Senate that is working and, once again, I hope this kind of cooperation can continue for future bills.

From the perspective of the Independent Senators Group, I’m so proud of my colleagues, who have demonstrated their willingness, ability and capacity to collaborate in a way that I have not seen before while maintaining their independence, and I think that is, in part, why we’ve had so many meaningful amendments to the bill.
Having said that, my colleagues supported a number of amendments that came from the Conservatives, and I’m very proud of them for doing so, as well. It is a demonstration, once again, of the independence of our group.
No question, we have seen extraordinary work from our sponsor of the bill and extraordinary work from the chairs of the five committees that led the review of the different aspects of the bill. But as others have already said, I need to give a special shout out to the chair and the two deputy chairs of Social Affairs, Senators Eggleton, Seidman and Petitclerc. They helped us through the most difficult part of the process and took us to the other side, intact and in good shape.

My first message, then, to my community, my friends, my colleagues, my constituents and the media is that this Senate has shown it is working. The new Senate is functioning well, and we should hold our heads up high.
My second message, colleagues, is that there are known harms from the consumption of marijuana, but legalization will do nothing to reduce those intrinsic harms of the drug. Let me say that differently: Legalization does not and will not create those harms. Those harms already afflict many Canadians, and not legalizing cannabis will perpetuate the already dire public health situation that we face because of the ubiquitous availability of illicit cannabis.

My third message is as follows: The best way to reduce those harms of cannabis consumption is, in fact, to legalize and regulate that market. You have already heard the many arguments for legalization and against the criminalization of simple possession of marijuana. We know what these harms are: stigmatization, exclusion, the disproportionate impact on Indigenous peoples and minorities and so on and so forth.

But I want to go a bit further and say that the logic of legalizing the cannabis industry means we have to give that industry the best chance of succeeding. I’m not sure we fully understood that part of the equation, and I encourage senators to think more deeply about what that means as we monitor the industry with great diligence and make sure that legalization does, in fact, succeed and that we are not putting in place regulations or restrictions on the industry that are overly severe.

My fourth message is for parents and youth. The message to parents is simple: Legalization is an opportunity to have conversations with your children about the use of marijuana and the special risks that are associated with use by youth in their teens and in their early twenties.

Colleagues, these conversations are not being had currently, in part because of the illegal status of cannabis. I speak from personal experience, and I truly hope that legalization will make it easier and will unlock the voices of parents everywhere to have those tough conversations, precisely because it will no longer be possible to avoid those conversations.

And if any of them are listening to our debate this evening, let this be crystal clear to them: We want them to have these conversations precisely because legalization is coming, and they need to have them very soon.
I also have a message for youth. My message for youth is that I will tell them the single biggest issue that we fought over in this chamber — which we debated with passion and vigour — is the impact on youth. We all know that. My second reading speech, as some of you may remember, was on the age of access. I questioned whether 18 or 19 was the right age of access given the evidence — some of it disputed — that young brains develop to the age of 23, 24 or 25 and that there are special risks faced by people in that age group taking cannabis. Now, I have since thought more deeply about this issue and come to accept that the age of majority is the most practical and enforceable way of going ahead with the question of age of access. But I think we should still convey to young people that, while cannabis will be legal for those who are aged 18 or 19, depending on the province, they should approach the fact of cannabis as a legal product in the same way that they might think about binge drinking as a legal activity.

I am in favour of the age of majority as the age of access, as I have said, for a variety of reasons, but I’m also inclined to believe in the evidence of a number of medical experts — we have heard them, again, tonight — who feel there could be serious mental health consequences for youth up to age 25 who consume marijuana. We should repeat this message. Even if the research is somewhat in dispute, we should repeat the message because we need to protect our youth as much as possible, and as the research improves we will provide them with new and better information.

But there should be no confusing our youth, whom we do not want to start marijuana — certainly not in their teen years and possibly not even in their early twenties.

Finally, colleagues, my message to all those out there who are interested in this debate is that our work is not done. Bill C-45 is only the beginning. It is not, however, as some of my Conservative colleagues might say, the beginning of the end. The world will not come to an end. The sky will not fall.

Likewise, Bill C-45 is not the beginning of the beginning. It’s not the beginning of the beginning because cannabis already exists. There already is a thriving illicit market, and what we are doing is to try to correct a problem that has been with us for a long time. This is not terra nova, ladies and gentlemen and colleagues; this is a situation where we have contaminated land that we need to clean up through a judicious program of legalization, regulation and public education.

If it’s not the beginning of the end and if it’s not the beginning of the beginning, I would say it is, in fact, the gradual end of the beginning — the gradual end, I hope and I pray, of a rampant illicit market that will allow for a transition to the legal production, distribution and consumption of cannabis.

The end of the beginning opens the way for a new approach to cannabis that focuses on public health, harm reduction, strict regulation of legal production and distribution and the reduction of illicit cannabis.
I hope and I know all of us will watch very closely the rollout of cannabis legislation and regulation, and we will not be afraid to put forward adjustments to the legislation and other kinds of course correction as we identify problems in the years ahead.

Now, given our comparative advantage over the House of Commons because of our institutional memory and longevity, the Senate is well placed to monitor the progress and setbacks of cannabis legalization. But make no mistake: If we legalize the cannabis market, we should do everything we can to make it succeed. When the debate has come to an end and if, in fact, Bill C-45 is passed, let us all join together to make sure that its implementation succeeds. Thank you.

 

Senator Martin:

Honourable senators, I rise today on this final day of third reading debate on Bill C-45. I wish to acknowledge, along with my colleagues, all those who made such great efforts in sponsoring, critiquing, analyzing and studying this bill to the greatest extent so that we can all stand proudly today and applaud their efforts.

I am also very proud of our chamber and have always been proud of the good work that our upper chamber does on every piece of legislation and the studies that are brought before committees.

I awoke this morning, as did you, to news of what a historic day it will be. It’s D-Day for Ontarians; potential D-Day for the Stanley Cup champions, if that were to be; and the day for us to arrive at the third reading vote.
I also awoke with many thoughts and emotions running through me. I opened up my messenger with many belated messages that I had not had a chance to check because of our busy schedule, and I saw beautiful photos of my nieces and nephews and children of my former students whom I had recently seen.

Although I have spoken and intervened on various speeches, today I stand on behalf of teachers and administrators across our country who are genuinely worried about what will happen should Bill C-45 receive Royal Assent and marijuana be legalized, especially in provinces where the legal age could be set at 18. Schools have clear cause for concern, as 18-year-olds will be in the same schools with younger students — as young as 12 years of age.

I also rise on behalf of parents and grandparents who worry about what to say to their children and grandchildren about a drug that has been illegal to date, at least in my lifetime. What can they say after legalization, when the law will no longer be something they can use to deter their children and grandchildren from developing a habit that may be very difficult to shake?

Since the 2015 election and the promise of legalization of this drug, there are areas in my hometown, Vancouver, where marijuana stores are within steps, and will continue to be within steps, of schools, daycares, playgrounds, community centres and people’s own backyards.

Over the course of the debate, senators on all sides quoted expert witnesses and competing research findings about the effects of marijuana use on youth, their brain development and mental health.

Last night I received a link to an article published in Global News on June 6 titled “Canadian students who use marijuana end up with poor health, grades,” by Graeme Benjamin. I wish to read this timely article into the record.
Students who try marijuana at an early age and use it often are more likely to have co-occurring problems, poor health outcomes, and less occupational and educational success in young adulthood, a St. Francis Xavier University (St. FX) and University of Victoria study has found.

The study, conducted by St. FX psychology professor Dr. Kara Thompson and Dr. Bonnie Leadbeater of the University of Victoria, followed a cohort of 662 young people over 10 years. Researchers interviewed the youth — who were between the ages of 12 and 18 when the study began in 2003 — every two years about substance use, mental health, accomplishments and general well-being.

The researchers observed how substance-use patterns unfolded over time, and how the patterns were influenced by other factors in adolescence and young adulthood.

“We hear a lot about risks for youth using cannabis, especially legalization around the corner, but our understanding of patterns of cannabis use among Canadian youth over time and the consequences of use is actually quite limited,” said Dr. Leadbeater in a statement.

“Our hope is that this work sheds light on how young Canadians use cannabis across adolescence and young adulthood, what predicts different patterns of use, and how these patterns contribute to mental health and well-being of young people.”

The two studies found five different patterns of cannabis use. Approximately 30 per cent of youth were classified as high-risk, meaning they started using cannabis frequently in early adolescence or increased in use across adolescents and were using more than once a week by young adulthood.

“These risky patterns of use were associated with the poorest health outcomes in young adulthood, including higher levels of substance use disorders, mental health and behaviour problems, as well as lower levels of educational and employment outcomes,” the study found.

Dr. Thompson said the young people who followed high-risk patterns used both cannabis and other substances during adolescence. They were also experiencing other behavioural problems.

“An effective public health approach to reducing cannabis for youth will need to acknowledge the contexts and co-occurring problems that accompany risky cannabis use in young people,” Dr. Thompson said in a statement.
The findings from the study are hoped to provide government and other public health practitioners a source to inform current and future cannabis policies.

I share this article with you, colleagues, with the hope that in this eleventh hour, after all is said and done, each one of us will think about the fork in the road that awaits us. Senator Petitclerc talked about the finish line. Yes, it is today’s finish line, but we know that other steps will follow, and that is for future debate.

Senator Petitclerc, I can share in your vision — and I think we all do — to make Canada the best in the world, in which youth are empowered to reach their highest potential. However, what I do not share is your confidence that Bill C-45 is potentially the path to achieving this.

In my vision for Canada, it is not to become the best through the legalization of an illicit drug in every other federal jurisdiction in the world, other than Uruguay, but perhaps through saying “no” to Bill C-45. I agree that we should decriminalize and that we should look at that seriously — and perhaps legalization — but when it’s a better time. Right now, with the body of evidence, the growing concerns and the growing number of calls and emails that we are all receiving, I feel as though this is not the time and that the risks of legalization, no matter the financial benefits, are too high.

Honourable senators, two roads will diverge. I’m afraid that, depending on the path we follow, way will lead to way and we will never be able to know what could have happened. I know that all of us take this upcoming vote very seriously. Today does feel like a historic day for me, and I’m sure for all of us, and I do hope all of us will choose wisely. Thank you.

To read all the speeches please to to: https://sencanada.ca/en/content/sen/chamber/421/debates/217db_2018-06-07-e#53