With the legalization of cannabis coming later this summer, the federal government has but the provincial government’s under considerable strain to ensure that our laws are consistent.
Unfortunately, much of the federal framework is still unknown greater an even bigger problem for the province’s.
Ending drugged driving…
Bill 17 is an amendment to the Motor Vehicle Act to enforce drugged driving laws in preparation for the coming legalization.
Substantial changes have happened over the past two decades with drinking and driving and it has largely happened through awareness, education and enforcement. Without an ability to test for THC levels easily, there is still a lot of work to do to give law enforcement the tools they need to keep the public safe.
This legislation is a good start and is by no means the end of the discussion, it is just the beginning.
[Transcript]
It’s a pleasure today to rise to speak, at second reading, to Bill 17. I would like to recognize the minister and the ministry for the substantial challenge they face as we are now starting to get into a body of work that the minister has to deal with, with respect to cannabis policy, as the federal government is moving towards a different regime for controlling cannabis in our country. I do want to recognize, as I’m working through these bills, that the minister has, in many cases, moving targets that he’s working with. That can’t be easy when you’re creating legislation.
I think this bill, when it comes to the Motor Vehicle Amendment Act, is an example of that. So I just want to acknowledge the challenge that the minister and the ministry have and, as well, how incredibly important it is that we get this piece of legislation right.
Public safety is paramount
Public safety is incredibly important. Getting it right is going to be a challenge, acknowledging the fact that there’s a reason why this country is moving towards legalization of cannabis and, perhaps, that there are quite a bit of people partaking in cannabis out on the streets. I think it’s important that we get this piece right and acknowledge that even the ability to test drivers who might be under the influence of cannabis is a substantial challenge.
As I see this, this bill will be passed by regulation. Therefore, I expect it will also be evolving over time as we and as technologies…. As we become more experienced on this issue, I expect there will be changes that are made through regulation.
Of course, we’re going to be moving this forward to committee. But at this point in time, I just want to acknowledge early that I think one of the key pieces to diminishing the amount of cannabis consumption and driving will be education. I note that the government has already begun a fairly substantive campaign. This would be one campaign that I certainly won’t complain about public resources being put into, in a substantial way, to ensure that youth right through to adults are educated and given the information to ensure that we decrease the instances of consuming cannabis and driving.
Education is key
I note that I grew up in the late 1980s and 1990s. Even since that time period to now, we’ve had a substantial change in the public perception around drinking and driving. I would credit that, at least from my experience, as a great deal due to the public education that was undertaken by previous provincial governments going back a few decades — having it front and centre in our high schools. Having the conversation and the road-check system and bringing it to the public’s awareness that it’s not safe to be consuming drugs or alcohol and driving.
Certainly my hope, probably outside the purview of this bill, is that the government does take advantage of the substantial opportunity to educate British Columbians and continue to do it. As I note, to a great extent, it’s already happening.
Finally, before I take my seat, I would just like to also point out that we’re not the only jurisdiction that struggles with the ability to test drivers or the ability to overcome the challenge of THC remaining in the bloodstream, unlike alcohol. There are significant challenges that THC poses that alcohol does not. We’re not the only jurisdiction right now that’s challenged by that.
Of course, every jurisdiction in Canada will be looking at that and dealing with it in their own way. In addition, I think jurisdictions in the United States of America are also looking at this. Some are getting it right; some maybe not.
Drive innovation…
I think that this is a considerable opportunity. I see that the minister for jobs, trades and innovation is here.
This is a significant opportunity to drive innovation, to put a challenge out to the innovators in our society and say, “We’ve got a really wicked problem here, and that is that the federal government is moving towards legalization, creating a different system of controlling cannabis, and we need tools to be able to hand to our public safety officers, to keep the public safe” — and turn the amazing minds of Canadian colleges and universities on to this. I’m sure that they already are — but maybe some kind of challenge to really see if we can come up with a solution.
I’ll just leave it at that. It was some good luck that the minister was here today and I had an opportunity to present that to him directly in the House today.
Having said that, I look forward to the committee stage of the discussion and the debate. We’ll be going through this clause by clause, and I look forward to that. I do have some questions and some clarification of the minister and the ministry, and I look forward to that opportunity. At this time, I’ll take my seat and thank the minister for the good work on this bill today.
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