Marijuana Legalization
Senator Dennis Patterson
Outcome of meeting with 46 independent Red Chamber members could be sign that group doesn’t feel bound by old-school agreements
by: Campbell Clark
There was a little bit of hidden glee among Conservatives on Parliament Hill at the thought that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s experiment with independent senators might hoist him on his own petard.
Some of the independents in the Red Chamber are toying with the idea of ping-ponging the Liberals’ hallmark bill to legalize cannabis back to the House of Commons, maybe even more than once, threatening to delay its passage – with the help of 32 Conservative senators…
‘One of the greatest paradoxes’: Indigenous communities grapple with the costs and benefits of legal weed
Senator Dennis Patterson
OTTAWA — In the heart of Alberta’s oil sands, there’s a new opportunity on the horizon, one that isn’t at the mercy of oil prices and pipeline politics.
The Fort McMurray #468 First Nation hopes to open a new marijuana production facility next year on its land south of the city, in partnership with cannabis company RavenQuest BioMed. The operation could eventually produce 15,000 kilograms of cannabis a year, estimates Brad Callihoo, the First Nation’s CEO.
“My mandate is a self-sufficient nation for the next seven generations,” he said…
Senator Dennis Patterson
The Senate has approved the Trudeau government’s landmark legislation to lift Canada’s 95-year-old prohibition on recreational cannabis – but with nearly four dozen amendments that the government may not entirely accept.
Bill C-45 passed easily in the upper house late Thursday by a vote of 56-30 with one abstention, over the objections of Conservative senators who remained resolutely opposed…
Senator Dennis Patterson
A Conservative senator accused Indigenous senators of “capitulation” on the federal pot bill Wednesday when they shelved plans to table amendments after receiving promises from two federal cabinet ministers for more consultation and a pledge to report back on the progress.
Indigenous Services Minister Jane Philpott and Health Minister Ginette Petitpas sent a letter to seven Indigenous senators Wednesday morning hours before the Senate was set to debate potential amendments to Bill C-45, the act to legalize recreational use of cannabis, which is currently in third reading…
Senator Dennis Patterson
OTTAWA — The Trudeau government has averted a potential confrontation with Indigenous senators that could have delayed the legalization of recreational marijuana.
The 11 members of the Senate’s Aboriginal Peoples’ committee had planned to support a Conservative amendment that would have deferred implementing Bill C-45, pending a report on government efforts to address the concerns of Indigenous communities…
Senator Dennis Patterson
OTTAWA—Conservatives lost their best chance to stymie the Trudeau government’s plan to legalize recreational marijuana Wednesday after an eleventh-hour intervention by two ministers mollified the concerns of Indigenous senators.
The 11 members of the Senate’s Aboriginal Peoples’ committee, as well as some Indigenous senators not on the committee, had planned to support a Conservative amendment that would have indefinitely deferred implementation of Bill C-45, pending a report on government efforts to address the concerns of Aboriginal communities…
Senator Dennis Patterson
The Senate has rejected an attempt to prohibit Canadians from growing a small number of marijuana plants at home once recreational cannabis is legalized.
Conservative Sen. Vern White proposed Thursday an amendment to Bill C-45 that would have banned home cultivation entirely across the country.
The amendment was defeated by a vote of 40-33.
Another Conservative senator, Claude Carignan, then proposed an amendment that would have restricted home cultivation to inside a dwelling, banning Canadians from growing pot plants in their yards…
Senator Dennis Patterson
On Monday (May 28), the Senate’s social affairs committee passed 40 amendments to the proposed federal cannabis legalization laws, including one which would solidify provincial powers to ban at-home cultivation.
In an eight-hour clause-by-clause consideration of Bill C-45, the Cannabis Act, more than three dozen technical clarifications, definitions, and translation errors were addressed to correct flaws in the drafting. Twenty-nine of those amendments were proposed by Sen. Tory Dean (independent), the bill’s sponsor, implying the majority of changes come with the backing of the government…
Senator Dennis Patterson
OTTAWA — A Senate committee passed 40 amendments Monday to the federal government’s cannabis legalization bill, including one that would allow provinces and territories to ban home-grown marijuana.
But the social affairs committee refused to accept a Conservative amendment that would have prohibited home cultivation outright.
And it defeated another that would have indefinitely delayed implementation of the legislation until the government reports to both houses of Parliament on the measures it’s taking to deal with the concerns of Indigenous communities…
Senator Dennis Patterson
Former Liberal cabinet minister Anne McLellan says there’s no need to delay legalizing cannabis, despite calls from a Senate committee that the government needs to delay for a up to a year and do more consultations with Indigenous communities.
McLellan, who chaired a government consulting task force that informed the framework of the legislation, said the Liberal government can continue consultations after the Bill C-45 is passed and implemented…
Senator Dennis Patterson
La protectrice des enfants du Manitoba estime que la nouvelle loi provinciale entourant la légalisation du cannabis ne répond pas aux besoins des enfants.
Dans une présentation devant le Comité permanent de la justice du Manitoba mardi soir, Daphne Penrose a soulevé de nombreuses questions au sujet de la nouvelle Loi sur la vente au détail responsable et sécuritaire du cannabis.
Elle croit que la nouvelle loi fera en sorte qu’un plus grand nombre de jeunes se retrouveront avec un casier judiciaire…
Senator Dennis Patterson
After a Senate committee proposed postponing cannabis legalization so that Indigenous leaders could have a seat at the table, a federal agency on the file has responded — the problem is with the current system, and putting off legalization won’t fix that, it says.
“The current system is not working — Canada has some of the highest rates of youth use of cannabis, the illegal market is thriving and Canadians continue to be subject to criminal prosecution for possession of small amounts of cannabis,” said Health Canada in a statement to CBC News…
News Talk – Senator Dennis Patterson on the line talking about the Senate aboriginal people committee’s recommendations (980 CJME)
Senator Dennis Patterson
Senator Patterson talks to John Gromley about the Senate Aboriginal Peoples’ Committee report and recommendations on C-45, Legalization of Marijuana…
Senator Dennis Patterson
The Senate Aboriginal People’s committee is calling for the Liberal government’s plan to legalize cannabis to be delayed for up to a year so the government can negotiate and hammer out policy details with Indigenous communities on key issues, ranging from public health to taxation and public education programs.
That’s a call for the Senate to amend the Liberal government’s cannabis legalization bill so it doesn’t come into force this summer – the often-repeated self-imposed deadline for the Liberal government to legalize recreational pot consumption…
Senator Dennis Patterson
As Inuit elders express concern about the upcoming legalization of cannabis, at least one senator says he won’t rest until Inuit priorities are addressed.
Dennis Patterson, a Conservative senator from Nunavut, has warned that if the government doesn’t provide necessary supports to Inuit to prepare them for the implementation of Bill C-45, he will mobilize senators to vote against it…
Senator Dennis Patterson
A leading voice on First Nations finances wants the federal government to surrender taxation powers over cannabis to band councils, arguing Indigenous peoples should get a cut of the billions of dollars in revenue expected from legalization…
Senator Dennis Patterson
As fresh uncertainty looms over the feasibility of Ottawa’s July 1 deadline for the legalization of cannabis in Canada, Nunavut Senator Dennis Patterson doubled-down at a meeting in Iqaluit on Sunday, stressing that Canada’s Senate will not give Bill C-45 a rubber-stamp.
“I don’t think we’re going to be rushing this bill,” Patterson said at the latest leg of his cross-Nunavut consultation tour, on Sunday, Feb. 11 at the Roman Catholic Parish Hall in Iqaluit.
Senator Dennis Patterson
As the Senate sponsor of the federal government’s Cannabis Act, Independent Senator Tony Dean wants his fellow members of the Red Chamber to move forward with approving the bill and legalizing cannabis in Canada…
Senator Dennis Patterson
“The government has a duty to consult with Inuit”
Nunavut Senator Dennis Patterson says that Ottawa must have a “meaningful conversation” with Inuit to meet its obligations under the Nunavut Agreement ahead of the coming legalization of recreational cannabis.
On Thursday, Nov. 23, Patterson told Senator Peter Harder, the government representative in the Senate, that Ottawa should consult with Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. on the organization’s concerns about Bill C-45, which will legalize the sale of possession of recreational cannabis as of July 2018.
Senator Dennis Patterson
Calling consultation ‘absolutely critical,’ Dennis Patterson would lobby for delay in legalization, if necessary
Nunavut Senator Dennis Patterson is pressuring the federal government to consult with Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. before legalizing marijuana nationwide on July 1.
Read the rest of this article by Derek Neary of the Northern News Services, published December 4, 2017