Good morning,
In Ottawa today, the weather forecast says it’ll be chilly and a little cloudy. But it’s likely to be especially cloudy on Parliament Hill if cannabis users gather to enjoy their first legal recreational tokes.
Yes, the day of cannabis legalization has finally arrived. Even if 71 per cent of Canadians say they aren’t going to smoke pot when it’s legal, the decriminalization and regulation of marijuana represents a significant societal change and a major legislative accomplishment for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government.
It’s also created an entirely new industry, one that will struggle to meet consumers' demand in the early days – let alone a looming Canada Post strike that will complicate deliveries even more.
The first legal sale of cannabis has already happened, probably while you were still asleep, in St. John’s, shortly after midnight. The Globe and Mail’s national correspondents will be watching the rollout of cannabis sales across the country all day.
This is the daily Politics Briefing newsletter, written by Chris Hannay in Ottawa. It is exclusively available only to our digital subscribers. Have any feedback? Let us know what you think.
TODAY’S HEADLINES
One more story sort of related to cannabis: A Canadian veteran living in the U.S. was finally released by U.S. authorities after being held in jail for more than two months because he had a decades-old pot conviction for which Canada pardoned him in 2002. Demetry Furman’s story was told in yesterday’s Globe and Mail, and U.S. Immigration, Customs and Enforcement [ICE] released him hours after his story became public.
In other consular cases, Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale has a message for Canadians who voluntarily travel to dangerous parts of the world to join foreign forces: If something goes wrong, you’ve only got yourself to blame.
The Liberal government has introduced a bill to end solitary confinement in prisons. The practice of putting inmates in tiny cells by themselves for 22 hours or more per day, sometimes for days on end, was linked to severe mental-health problems and, in some cases, death.
The Senate’s banking committee says businesses should pay less tax.
And the National Capital Commission says it’ll cost at least $83-million to properly renovate the six official residences. Of particular concern are 24 Sussex Drive and Harrington Lake – both properties used by the Prime Minister – and the Farm, a pastoral property in Quebec where the Speaker of the House of Commons can live. The NCC says those three residences are in poor or even critical condition because of problems with electrical systems, crumbling infrastructure and more. The houses for the Governor-General and the Leader of the Opposition, though, are reportedly in pretty good shape.
Gary Mason (The Globe and Mail) on legal cannabis day 1: “Mostly, it will be impossible to detect any discernible change in the day-to-day life of this country. We’re not going to suddenly start seeing hordes of people walking the streets zombie-like, distant, with glazed expressions on their faces. Nor are bosses likely to notice workers giggling uncontrollably all day.”
Chris Selley (National Post) on cannabis legalization: “Indeed, considering the Reefer Madness-level debate, it seems somewhat remarkable how peacefully this sea change is washing over the country — and it seems the patchwork of provincial and municipal rules, much derided by Conservatives, is partly to credit for that.”
The Globe and Mail editorial board on the important consequences of legalization: “The most gratifying will be the end of the tens of thousands of arrests for possession of small amounts of cannabis that people are subjected to every year. Those arrests disproportionately targeted black and Indigenous Canadians. It is long past due that a regime that punished vulnerable people for so small a crime, while millions of others brazenly used cannabis with impunity, is finally off the books.”
Katherine Kramer (The Globe and Mail) on cannabis and pets: “Carefully administered cannabis-based pet therapy under the direction of a veterinarian can significantly improve an aging animal’s quality of life.”
Bessma Momani (The Globe and Mail) on the death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi: “Make no mistake, the now agreed upon story of Mr. Khashoggi’s death was a negotiated one between Saudi Arabia, the United States and Turkey. All three countries have little interest in dragging on an investigation and more importantly have the death of a journalist divert attention away from the common interest they have in doing business with one another.”
Adnan R. Khan (Maclean’s) on Khashoggi’s death in a Saudi consulate in Turkey: “It seems these days more and more authoritarian regimes are using diplomatic missions as command centres where they hatch plots to intimidate and, in some cases, murder their critics.”
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Chris Hannay