Bill - A law to restrict the use of cannabis, in any form, in every single outdoor public space in Manitoba
On Thursday, March 25, I had a chance to question Minister Friesen about Bill 6. It is a bill which prohibits the use of cannabis in outdoor public spaces in Manitoba. Much of the restrictions will be contained in regulations. I had presumed that the Minister would provide for the use of cannabis in some outdoor public spaces. But under questioning it became apparent that he is talking about banning cannabis use in every single public outdoor space in our province. The is too broad, and is not based on common sense as my comments below show. My questions, the minister's answers and my comments during debate of second reading are below (from Hansard).
Bill 6–The Liquor,
Gaming and Cannabis Control Amendment Act
Questions:
Hon. Jon Gerrard (River
Heights):
I ask the minister, so much is
hidden here, in terms of the definition of public spaces, under this act.
The–so much can be written into regulations that it is hidden in the act
itself.
Would the minister give us a little
more detail, in terms of where the exceptions would be for allowing people to
smoke cannabis or consume cannabis?
Mr. Friesen: Well, the member knows that when it comes to smoking cannabis,
those rules are already established and this is a progression of that, as well.
And, of course, as he says, that
there's a general prohibition of cannabis consumption in public places. The
bill makes clear that it refers to edibles, extracts and topicals. The
exception as to which he speaks have to do also with products that are
non-intoxicating cannabis products. So there are some exceptions in that case
as well. But clearly, like the smoked cannabis products, in homes and in your
private abode.
What you're putting forward
apparently is a general prohibition so that people can't even use it
anywhere in a public park except if they happen to have a cottage perhaps
inside.
Is that the approach that the
minister's going to take, that park with a lot of outdoor spaces and open
spaces that you can't consume cannabis anywhere except for inside a cottage
that somebody may have?
Mr. Friesen: It
is true that this is a restrictive approach to begin.
As we said, when it comes to
cannabis legalization in Canada, this bold societal experiment is less than
three years old, and therefore, it is easier over time as we understand how
products and new products will enter the marketplace, because there's
incredible product development going on all over the world right now.
It's important to start with
restrictions, as we have done, and then to loosen those restrictions over time
as we better understand the impact on society, on health care, on safety. And
so, as the member says, the restriction goes to homes and houses and principal
residences, and we believe that's a good place to start.
Mr. Gerrard: Yes,
I'm afraid that–I think that the approach that the minister is taking is far
too broad. If somebody's in a wilderness park and there's nobody within a
kilometre of them, surely there's not going to be too much concern about
somebody consuming cannabis.
I think that there needs to be some
common sense here and that, hopefully, that we will see some common sense if
and when this goes to committee, that the minister will decide there is a way
that probably is a little closer to what's done with alcohol, that there are
some restrictions but there's not this universal restriction of every public
place in the province.
Mr. Friesen: I
mean, the member is correct. There will be debate on this issue.
I would suggest to the member we as
a society have to start somewhere. It is a long horizon when it comes to
cannabis. It is important to start in a place where we can, you know,
reasonably ensure safety. So if there is a pendulum that is swung, yes, we
would say we have started with the focus on the health and safety of people,
understanding the risks that cannabis can pose to young people, to youth, to
children. We don't apologize for that.
And knowing that we will continue
to be in this together as a society, there'll be lots of time to decide how to
loosen restrictions as time goes on.
Hon. Jon Gerrard (River Heights): My comments will be brief.
I think the approach that the
minister is taking has not got much common sense around it. If somebody's out
in the middle of a wilderness park and they're a kilometre from everybody else,
there's no sense in restricting their ability to use cannabis.
I also think that there's a
fundamental problem here that, you know, this is legal if you've got people,
for example, who are renting, who may not, under some circumstances, be able to
have, you know, smoke cannabis in their own apartment because of the rules
there. They need places outdoors to be able to smoke cannabis or consume
cannabis in one way or another.
If you've got people who are travelling–I
mean, if somebody wants to go by car from Winnipeg to Thompson, for example,
and they want to stop somewhere and every public space along the way is
prohibited in terms of consuming cannabis, that this just, I mean, doesn't make
common sense and it's not enforceable; it's not realistic.
If the minister actually wanted to
protect children, say, under age 19, I mean, you could at least say, you can't
smoke or consume cannabis within, you know, four metres of somebody who's under
19. It would be at least, you know, measurable and it would be at least
targeted in terms of the people that you're trying to protect.
I'm not saying that that would
necessarily be the common-sense way to go either, but I think that, hopefully,
at the committee stage, we will have Manitobans with some common-sense
suggestions as to how better to approach this, in contrast to what the minister
is proposing: a blanket prohibition on all public places in the province.
Thank you.
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