Premiers' agenda packed, but pot takes precedence
'We don't have enough pot to sell,' Pallister says, 'but we are supposed to legalize it in a year'
Brian Pallister hopes Canada's premiers will join him in calling for a delay to the legalization of marijuana when they meet next week in Edmonton.
Pallister believes Manitoba is ahead of several provinces on planning for the federal requirement to legalize pot next July, but it won't have a key ingredient available by the deadline.
"We don't have enough pot to sell ... but we are supposed to legalize it in a year," Pallister told reporters during a briefing about the Council of the Federation meeting that starts next Monday.
Not having enough product — because licenced producers aren't ready to meet the demand — means pot will be legal but in part will still be supplied by criminals, he said.
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"There is no way that we are going to supply the demand, except in part. So therefore, we are going to move into a situation where we are going to compete gradually with gang distribution of marijuana," Pallister said.
In addition, he said, provinces are not ready to take over the market with legal distribution systems. He's also concerned about policing, driving under the influence of marijuana and youth access by to the substance.
Manitoba will release an outline of plans for a distribution system for the province in the next two weeks, Pallister said.
Asylum seekers, trade ... and there are always health care issues to discuss
Pallister says he's managed to get the ongoing issue of asylum seekers crossing into Canada onto the agenda in Edmonton.
In the last two years Manitoba has seen a nine-fold increase in traffic across its border from the United States by people seeking asylum, Pallister told reporters Friday.
He said Canada and provinces affected by the traffic across the border should be developing a long-term strategy for managing asylum seekers.
Manitoba continues to be the lone holdout in signing the federal health accord, but Pallister says nonetheless, he will urge the other provinces to move further along on buying health-related supplies as a group.
"Shared procurement strategies on major health care equipment, such as MRIs. That would be one example," Pallister says.
On the trade file, Pallister says Manitoba will continue to support free trade under the North American Free Trade Accord and urge the other provinces at next weeks meeting to loosen internal trade restrictions.