Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator Ð Wednesday January 13, 2016 The Blair roach project has won a powerful supporter. Premier Kathleen Wynne said she is pleased Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has asked former Toronto police chief Bill Blair, now Scarborough Southwest MP, to lead the marijuana legalization efforts. ÒI have a lot of respect for Bill Blair. I think that heÕll do a great job and his taking on of that role is the beginning of that national conversation that I said we have to have,Ó Wynne told reporters Monday at QueenÕs Park. The premier added that she was heartened that Blair is embracing her proposal to have cannabis sold through government-owned Liquor Control Board of Ontario outlets. ÒIÕm encouraged that he had, as a preliminary approach, that he thinks that it might make sense to use a distribution network thatÕs in place, . . . (although thatÕs) not a foregone conclusion,Ó she said. ÒHeÕs got a lot of people to talk to and heÕs got a lot of questions to ask and a lot of decisions to make over the coming months, so I look forward to that conversation.Ó Blair, a rookie MP who is parliamentary secretary to Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould, will work with a three-member cabinet team and a soon-to-be-named federal-provincial-territorial task force to develop the policy for legalizing marijuana. On Friday, Blair said Ottawa will look to Colorado and other jurisdictions that have legalized marijuana sales. ÒWe have pretty robust systems of regulation for other intoxicants in this country, mostly overseen by the provinces, and so weÕve already got a model, a framework we can build on here,Ó he said. ÒI think there are certain modifications or adjustments that we may have to make for cannabis as opposed to alcohol, but I think there is already a strong system in place for the control and regulationÓ of marijuana sales here. The police veteran, who himself has never smoked marijuana, pointed out that it is Òvery difficul
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