MP Richard Cannings, the federal representative for South Okanagan-West Kootenay, gave his thoughts on several hot issues last week in an interview with the Osoyoos Times. (Richard McGuire file photo)

Federal MP Richard Cannings has two major concerns about “serious side issues” surrounding last week’s legalization of recreational cannabis.

First are the repercussions for Canadians who have used cannabis, or who invest in the cannabis industry, and wish to travel to the United States.

Second is the lack of a reliable roadside test for cannabis impairment, as opposed to tests of THC in blood, which Cannings says is not an accurate indicator of impairment.

Cannings spoke about the implications of cannabis legalization in an interview last week with the Osoyoos Times. He also addressed electoral reform through proportional representation and the proposed national park reserve in the South Okanagan.

Cannings said the issue of entering the U.S. is especially of concern to Osoyoos as a border community.

“What happens when you cross the border, and someone asks you have you ever used marijuana?” he said. “You have to be honest, so either you choose not to answer the question and not enter the United States, or you choose to say ‘yes’ and you risk being barred from the United States forever. This is a really serious problem.”

Cannings noted that even people who don’t use marijuana, but are active investors in the legal marijuana industry, can face problems entering the U.S.

On roadside checks for impairment, Cannings noted that people using cannabis legally may not be impaired, but THC may show up in their blood. THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol) is the psychoactive compound in cannabis that makes people high.

“That’s not related to impairment,” he said. “If you’re a regular user, there is a risk you’re going to have ongoing levels of THC in the blood whether you are impaired or not.”

This can be a concern for medical users, he said, pointing to one constituent who has been unable to get a card from Health Canada identifying him as a medical user to explain his THC levels.

“It seems like it’s a patchwork of how they’re going to establish impairment,” said Cannings, who attended meetings of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights when it was studying the issue of cannabis impairment.

“The general consensus was that THC levels were not very useful,” he said. “Some of the most impaired people have very low THC levels in their blood, because it’s all in their brain. Others with very high levels would be those who may have used it some hours previously and are not impaired at all.”

Cannings noted that cannabis impairment is very different from alcohol impairment, meaning that someone impaired by cannabis may have no trouble with traditional sobriety tests where they walk a line at the side of the road or touch their finger to the tip of their nose.

“You don’t have the same locomotory impacts (as with alcohol),” he said. “It’s more of a cognitive impact around reaction time.”

Cannabis users may have slower reaction times, which is very important when driving, but this is not something that can be tested in the usual way, he said.

Asked about what he’s hearing from constituents on the issue of cannabis, Cannings said some people say they think legalization will mean more people will use cannabis and some express concerns that children will use it.

“I think most Canadians are quite OK,” he said. “They’re either happy that it’s happening or really don’t care one way or the other. But there are some people that are concerned.”

Cannings said people supporting legalization aren’t necessarily users, but they believe it will accomplish some of the goals of the government, such as taking cannabis sales away from organized crime and taxing it.

On proportional representation, Cannings said he supports it and the federal NDP has been in favour for some time.

His preference is for a mix-member proportional system where constituents would keep their local geographical representation and wouldn’t lose their MLA, but the added members would increase the proportionality.

“Especially now that I’m working in the House of Commons, I can see how insidious it is when you give a party that has 40 per cent of the vote 100 per cent of the power,” said Cannings.

He points also to the recently elected Doug Ford government in Ontario which won a majority government with a minority of votes and is now walking back all the climate change actions Ontario was taking.

“That’s the tyranny of first-past-the-post,” said Cannings.

The federal MP said that if he were in the shoes of the B.C. government, he would have made the referendum question simpler.

“I think it’s always difficult when you’re in a referendum process to get a yes vote for change,” he said. “People are very wary of change.”

He said he’s “dismayed” by the “misinformation and outright lies” from the “no” side, for example suggesting people would lose their MLAs.

Cannings argued that some of the better decisions occur during minority governments because parties work together.

If B.C. votes to establish proportional representation, Cannings thinks it will have a beneficial effect across Canada, giving an example for the federal government and other provinces.

On the proposed national park reserve, Cannings said one of the main concerns he hears is about lack of information on boundaries.

Following discussions between the three levels of government – federal, provincial and First Nations – a park concept is expected to be announced in November.

“That would clear the air on a lot of things,” he said.

He hopes too that some of the unfounded fears some people have will also be cleared up when the park concept is announced. An example, he said, is the fear by some people that their property will be expropriated, even though that’s never been on the table.

Cannings hopes there will be clear answers on such issues as ranching, cattle grazing, access to the park and helicopter training.

RICHARD McGUIRE

Osoyoos Times