October 31, 2024
Hon. Judith G. Seidman: Leader, on Tuesday, the RCMP announced six arrests on Vancouver Island related to the production, storage and distribution of unregulated cannabis. Federal investigators seized 120,000 cannabis edibles. I encourage everyone to look at the pictures released by the RCMP. The packaging of these counterfeit, cannabis-laced products is astonishingly similar to the well-known treats Canadians will be handing out to young children tonight as they trick or treat on Halloween. The RCMP urged the public to practice extreme caution with these highly contaminated products.
Leader, what is being done by the government to better protect children with respect to edibles?
Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): The cannabis legislation in the past made it clear that the marketing and many decisions that bear upon the health aspects of this are within provincial jurisdiction. As colleagues know, provinces vary quite considerably.
I’m very glad these items were seized, because the production of illegal cannabis products — whether they are edibles that are attractive to children or other products that are not subject to quality control in the Canadian system — is a danger to the health, welfare and safety of Canadians and needs to be dealt with by all levels of government, including the police.
I’m glad that at least some efforts were successful in removing these from the market.
Senator Seidman: As you know, leader, our province of Quebec prohibits edibles in the shape of candies, chocolates or desserts. Does your government have any plans to restrict the appearance and content of edibles across Canada?
Senator Gold: Generally, the government works with its provincial counterparts in matters of health because there is a division of constitutional jurisdiction in these areas. This government respects the autonomy and sovereignty of the provinces to regulate their aspects of this important issue, and it will continue dialogue with the provinces to that effect.