By Jon Hiltz

 

In an extraordinary act of unity, the leaders of the three major parties in Ontario have come together to demand some sort of direction from the Trudeau government on its foggy cannabis legalization plans.

Despite the gestures of announcing legislation by spring of 2017, enacting a task force, and creating an online portal for Canadians to share their views, the ultimate framework for cannabis regulation remains unclear.

The only solid modification thus far has been in medical and not recreational, where MMJ patients can now grow their own. This change was only enacted because Trudeau was forced under the deadline of a federal court decision. That landmark judgement also known as the Allard Decision gave the government a specific timeline to allow Canadians another option to access marijuana, other than just receiving it by mail order.

Ontario Liberal Premier Kathleen Wynne, Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown and NDP Leader Andrea Horwath came together during a session at Queen’s Park to get some clarity on where things stand in the legalization process.

Ontario thus far has been a battleground between the cannabis community and law enforcement. This is mainly because of the expansion of cannabis dispensaries across Toronto and other parts of the province.  Due to a lack of direction from the federal government, Ontario lawmakers have simply decided that there is no legal vacuum for dispensaries to operate.

A complete opposite and more progressive view is coming from provinces like British Columbia, where officials have learned to work with dispensaries by enacting zoning bylaws that allow them to exist under a set of rules. This move has been deemed by the cannabis community and reiterated by the media as a much more collaborative approach than actions like Project Claudia, one of the largest police raids in Canadian history.  Claudia’s show of unnecessary force has been widely deemed by citizens and government officials as a vast waste of public funds that did very little to stop dispensaries, which simply reopened for business the following week.

This request to the federal government on behalf of the leaders of Ontario comes on the heels of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce publicly asking Premier Wynne to allow recreational marijuana to be sold by private retailers licensed by the government.

In this unique situation, it seems that an enemy of the Trudeau approach is now a friend. Opponents of marijuana legalization are criticizing the government for taking their time, adding that this slow process is allowing for a “Wild West” style scenario, where businesses can seemingly operate with no regulation.  Those who are for marijuana legalization, on the other hand, want the feds to speed things up in order for cannabis businesses to know how to operate once they learn the rules.

Either way, both sides are pushing Trudeau to finally get these papers rolling.