The Liberals' blueprint to legalize marijuana in Canada

One of the Liberals' signature campaign promise has now taken the form of a bill.

Actually, two bills.

The federal government's plan to legalize marijuanacomes with two pieces of legislation introduced this week; one to regulate the recreational use, sale and cultivation of marijuana, and a second that strengthens measures to stop impaired driving.

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• Pot legalization bill provides many answers, but leaves some key issues in limbo

• Liberals table bills to legalize pot, clamp down on impaired driving

It would allow people to possess up to 30 grams of dried or fresh cannabis and sets the minimum at 18 years of age, though provinces and territories can set a higher legal age.

"The fundamental purpose here is that we protect our kids," Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould told The House.

Then why set the age restriction at 18 when several experts argue consuming marijuana could have a detrimental impact on still-developing brains?

"In terms of the age of 18, we're not seeking to revisit the age of majority through our cannabis act," Wilson-Raybould explained, adding that provinces have the option of increasing the minimum purchasing age if they want.

Speaking of the provinces, a lot of the work now falls on their shoulders.

They have to figure out how marijuana will be sold and at what price.

The tight deadline of getting everything done by Canada Day of next year is a concern for Manitoba Justice MinisterHeather Stefanson. As is the lack of resources.

"It is a tight timeframe, there's no question," she told The House.

"We do have concerns about the public health and safety component."

Stefansonemphasized that her main concerns revolve around the availability and necessary training for roadside testing devices, and the costs associated with those.

"We've let the federal government know that there is an expectation for them to provide funding," she explained.

She said Ottawa has not committed to anything yet.

Justice delayed: the impact of the Jordan ruling

The first half ofWilson-Raybould's week was largely consumed by responding to mounting pressures to do something about the so-called Jordan decision.

The Supreme Court of Canada ruled last July that a reasonable delay to trial is 18 months for provincial cases and 30 months for cases before the superior court.

Those time limits have resulted in some serious cases being stayed.

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This week, the federal justice minister announced she would hold an emergency meeting with her provincial counterparts to find solutions.

Wilson-Raybouldtold The House she is concerned about the delays, and she wants to understand why some jurisdictions seem to be more affected than others.

"We can share the best practices that we, in our individual jurisdictions, have been advancing, we can learn from each other, and we can insure that we are coordinating all the good work that's happening, but also identify where we can make improvements," she said.

For provinces, the reality of dealing with the Jordan decision has proven to be a painful one.

"The Jordan decision has been a game changer," Ontario Attorney General Yasir Naqvi told The House.

In the aftermath of the Supreme Court's decision, Ontario announced an additional 13 provincial judges would be appointed, and the provincewouldhire 32 more assistant Crown attorneys, 16 duty counsel and 26 court staff.

Naqvi has also suggested eliminating preliminary inquiries for non-serious cases.

"We need to work really hard, as a collective, to ensure that we do not get into a situation where there is an erosion of trust by the public in our justice system," he said.

He added that Ottawa could help by filling judicial vacancies faster, and looking fundamental changes to the justice system.

"The real set of solutions lies in reform of the criminal code," Naqvi argued.

"We can start a national conversation and start looking at bold reforms that deal with structural issues in criminal law."

Justice Minister Heather Stefansonsaidshe wants Ottawa to allow Manitoba to conduct a four-year pilot project to see if eliminating and in other cases replacing preliminary hearings will reduce court backlogs.

In House: Trudeau'sevolving position on Syria

The tone changed pretty quickly.

Prior to last week's U.S. airstrikes,Justin Trudeauwas calling on theinternational community to do more to investigate the deadly Syrian chemical weapons attack.

• Trudeau says path to peace in Syria doesn't include Assad

Fast-forward to this week, now the prime minister is open to increasing its sanctions against Russia and believes there's no place for Syria's president in the country's future.

"Clearly the thinking in Ottawa has evolved," said Joel-Denis Bellavance from La Presse.

"The comments by the prime minister show that he's following what is happening in Washington very closely and aligning his foreign policies to what Mr. Trump is actually saying and doing," he added.

"If you've actually decided to tie your policy to what's going on in the United States, it's going to be unpredictable," said Susan Delacourt from the Toronto Star and iPolitics.

The panel also talked the tabling of the budget implementation bill, and the surprises it contained.

The 300-page bill would, for example, significantly increase the fees that Canadians pay for a variety of federal services, such as campsites, fishinglicencesand passport witha new Service Fees Act that would automatically hike hundreds of fees by the level of inflation each year.

Once passed, the bill would alsogive the parliamentary budget officer expanded powers, but also impose new restrictions.

Canada's first parliamentary budget officer is raising concerns with proposed Liberal legislation that he says would be detrimental to the office's independence.

"When I was the parliamentary budget officer we were often talking about difficult issues of the day, costing wars, costing crime bills, fighter planes. And I ask myself when I look at the legislation;would we still be able to do this? and my concern is that we would not," Kevin Page told The House.

"Now we have a PBO with some teeth and with that legislation we may have a PBO with a denture," said Bellavance.

"I'm sort of hoping, as Page is,that it will be amended," added Delacourt.