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Canadian Senate votes 44-29 to send Cannabis Act to committee stage

Third and final Senate vote still expected to happen by June 7
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The Liberal government scrambled to recall some Senators to Ottawa to take part in the vote

The Canadian Senate voted 44-29 to send Bill C-45, to legalize recreational cannabis, to the committee stage after spending hours debating the bill on March 22.

Had the vote failed, the bill would have been dead and legalization would not have been able to take place by “summer,” which is the government’s timeline.

Many in the cannabis sector were listening to at least parts of the Senate’s debate and the vote itself, just after 3:30 p.m. Pacific Time, on the CPAC website.

“This morning I heard rumblings that things were looking to go sideways,” Rosy Mondin, who is the executive director of the Cannabis Trade Alliance of Canada, told Business in Vancouver after the vote.

“People on the inside weren’t even sure what was going on so my reaction was relief when I heard the result of the vote. It would have been very unfortunate for it to have to be redrafted.”

The Senate is now recessed until March 27 and it is unclear when a Senate committee will discuss possible revisions to the bill. 

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had said that he wanted to have recreational marijuana legalized in Canada by around July 1. That target date then became "summer."

"The current timeline in the Senate would probably still hold: third reading on the bill before June 7," added Tousaw Law Corp. partner Kirk Tousaw, who also spoke with BIV following the vote.

"Obviously I thnk certain aspects of the bill could be implemented almost immediately, and those would be the aspects around personal possession," he said.

Tousaw would like Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould to issue a policy directive to Crown counsel across the country not to charge people with simple possession of cannabis. 

"That wouldn't even require a legal change," he said. "It should have happened a long time ago."

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