By Charles Lefebvre

Cannabis bill passes Senate, returns to House of Commons with amendments

Jun 8, 2018 | 5:53 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – Cannabis is one step closer to being legalized in Canada.

The Senate voted 56-30 on third reading of Bill C-45, which would lift Canada’s 95-year-old prohibition on the recreational use of marijuana.

While the bill passed, senators added more than 40 amendments. While the majority of the amendments are procedural, roughly one dozen are significant, including one to allow provinces to prohibit growing cannabis at homes if they choose.

The bill heads back to the House of Commons, where MP’s will approve, reject or modify changes before returning the bill to the senate for another vote.

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Medicine Hat-Cardston-Warner MP Glen Motz says he is concerned there won’t be enough debate on the amendments to the bill.

“With the Liberal majority, like many of the other bills, whether they’ve studied them thoroughly or not, whether they’ve been debated thoroughly or not, and whether they’ve had enough consultation or not, the Liberals are demonstrating their willingness to just ram things through based on majority, not what’s best for Canadians,” he said.

Motz says public safety and health are among his concerns about the legislation.

The bill is expected to be debated in the house over the next two weeks, before Parliament lets out for the summer.