Trudeau won’t say whether Liberals will delay cannabis legalization

OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has left the door open to a possible delay in enacting his government's cannabis legalization bill.

Trudeau says the Liberals will forge ahead with their plan to legalize marijuana for recreational use.

But he would not say today whether they will postpone legalization, as a Senate committee has recommended.

In a report issued Tuesday, the Senate aboriginal peoples committee called on the government to put off legalizing marijuana for up to a year so broader consultations on the matter could take place with Indigenous communities.

The report said the government's lack of proper consultation on its cannabis bill undermines its claims to be trying to have a new and better relationship with Indigenous peoples.

When asked whether he'd be willing to delay implementing Bill C-45, Trudeau didn't answer directly.

Instead, he reiterated what Bill Blair, the parliamentary secretary who's been helping to steer the bill through the legislative process, has said — that "legalization is not an event, it's a process."