Government misses deadline to seal cannabis possession records for thousands of Canadians | CBC News

The government has missed a legislated deadline to fully implement a program that was pitched as a way to help Canadians with cannabis possession records avoid jumping through hoops to obtain formal pardons.

Even though recreational cannabis has been legal in Canada since 2018, having a record for cannabis possession can prevent a person from getting a job or travelling outside the country.

The Liberal government has attempted to pardon Canadians convicted of simple possession. Its primary expedited pardon program saw limited uptake, however, and some Canadians hit logistical roadblocks in their applications.

In response to those concerns, the Liberals’ adopted an NDP amendment to their 2022 criminal justice reform legislation, Bill C-5, that would automatically “sequester” records for simple possession — meaning they would no longer show up on criminal background checks.

In an effort to help people who may have addiction issues, the program also covers possession records for other illicit drugs.

Bill C-5 gave the government two years to sequester all possession records across the country. That deadline passed in November — and Public Safety Canada recently told CBC News that the work of sequestering records is “ongoing.”

“The RCMP is … proceeding with a manual validation and setting records aside and apart; this work requires extensive research and significant effort,” the department said in a media statement.

Annamaria Enenajor, a criminal defence lawyer and former director of the advocacy group Cannabis Amnesty, told CBC News she isn’t surprised that the deadline wasn’t met.

“The program is very ambitious, given how many levels of government are involved in the collection and preservation of records,” she said.

Enenajor noted that various governments and police agencies file records differently; some have digitized files while other records are kept in paper form. In cases where a paper file still exists, she said, someone would have to physically track it down and ensure it is kept separate — which could take significant time and resources.

“You can’t just press control-alt-delete and have them all disappear,” she said.

“There would have to be a coordinated effort on the part of the federal government to work with the provincial government and various law enforcement entities around the country. And I just haven’t seen that happening.”

Andrew Tanenbaum, director of the non-profit organization Pardons Canada, said the program has faced some bureaucratic hurdles.

“The [local] police have their own records which [are] separate from the RCMP records, so to coordinate that with every police station across the country is a challenge,” he said.

“I think that, at this point, the government’s got bigger fish to fry and they’ve got other worries other than sequestering [records] … It just seems like it’s not a high priority.”

Minister issues directive to RCMP not to disclose records

A month before the November deadline, Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc issued a ministerial directive to the RCMP not to disclose simple possession offences when completing background checks “unless otherwise required by law.”

CBC News asked LeBlanc’s office why the directive hadn’t been issued earlier and when the government expects the sequestration project to be completed. His office said it would not be offering any comment.

NDP MP Alistair MacGregor accused the Liberals of “failing” to uphold their promise.

“Honest Canadians who are trying to get their lives on the right path are still waiting to have their records sequestered but are being sidelined,” he said in a media statement.

But Enenajor said the directive “probably does the trick,” although she cautioned that it might not be a “permanent solution.”

“It’s less about the existence of the records and it’s more about the impact that they have on people once they’re disclosed,” she said, adding that a directive is more easily reversed than something laid out in legislation.

“It’s not a permanent solution and if a government comes into power who wants to send a message that all drug offences — even simple possession offences — are going to be taken seriously … then you’re going to have a revocation of that ministerial directive.”

The Conservatives, who have a healthy lead in the polls, have called on the government to reverse some of the provisions in Bill C-5. CBC News asked Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s office if a Conservative government would maintain the sequestration portion of the bill, but has yet to receive a response.