2018 Deadline for Pot Legalization ‘Aspirational,’ Says Liberal MP

Bill Blair continues to pour water on July 1, 2018 as the day the Liberal government wants to bring marijuana legalization into force.

Speaking on CTV’s Question Period Sunday, the Scarborough Southwest MP and parliamentary secretary to the justice minister called the date aspirational when confronted by opposition critics.

“That date is ambitious and aspirational because we have a lot of work to do,” said Blair, when asked about it by host Evan Solomon.

When pressed to clarify what he meant, Blair said: “What I’m saying is I’m respecting the process of Parliament. We’re bringing in legislation before Parliament, it will be subject to vigorous debate and the important work of committee. I also very much respect the work that will be done in the Senate on this matter.”

“And we have a great deal of work to do working with our partners in the provinces and in municipalities to make sure that we do this right.”

The government will be working “as quickly as possible” to legalize pot, he said.

It’s not the first time this week Blair sounded uncertain about the Canada Day 2018 deadline, saying in an interview with the National Post on Wednesday that it wasn’t his date. “I haven’t said anything about a timeline and the speculation is highly aspirational. There’s tons of work to do,” he told the Post.

The date emerged late last Sunday in a report by the CBC, and hasn’t been challenged by other front-bench Liberals.

According to the report, the government wants to introduce legalization legislation on the week of April 10 this year to have a law in force by next year’s national birthday.

Conservative MP and health critic Colin Carrie said on Question Period that the July 1 deadline takes away from the seriousness of the policy involved.

The leak last Sunday came shortly after several NDP leadership candidates — in a youth-focused debate in Montreal last week — sowed doubt on whether the Liberals would actually pursue their promise to legalize pot.

“I do not believe Justin Trudeau is going to bring in the legalization of marijuana and as proof that... we are still seeing, particularly young, Canadians being criminalized by simple possession of marijuana,” said candidate Peter Julian in a Canadian Press report.

Blair was charged with overseeing the marijuana legalization process for cabinet in 2016.