Recently appointed health minister Jane Philpott said a meeting between the provinces and territories could come as soon as next week to move forward with the new Liberal government’s ambitious agenda.
One of the campaign promises Philpott will need to address will be recreational cannabis legalization.
The new health minister said the first step to legalization will be the creation of a provincial, territorial and federal task force that will include public health, substance abuse and public safety experts.
“I will clearly have the opportunity to be involved from a health perspective and looking at the health aspects of new legislation,” she said.
The process will need to be started soon, Philpott noted, in order to accomplish the plan.
“I suspect that we will begin work on that very shortly,” she said. “It is a complex issue and we need to be sure that all of our decisions are based on really excellent evidence, so there will be many perspectives on this issue.”
Philpott said, that while she has many outstanding issues to deal with, she’s confident in the government’s ability to follow through with their promises.
“I know that Canadians trust us to be thoughtful and to make wise decisions on their behalf,” the health minister said.