Canada’s presidential election took place on Monday, and the winner was Justin Trudeau and his Liberal Party.
An important political turn that means the end of an era for the conservatives, and above all a swerve to the moderate left that will have an important impact not only on the G7, the power alliance that Canada is a part of, but also on many more aspects of the North American country that chose to vote for change after several terms of conservative government under the leadership of Stephen Harper.
As we already told you, Trudeau included the cannabis question in his electoral program, and in one of his frequent public appearances during the campaign he showed his favorable disposition towards the regulation of cannabis as soon as he won the election. “(If I win) I will immediately legalize marijuana”, he promised, referring to the recreational use of cannabis. This promise has been one of the focal points of his campaign. Well, the time has now come and the international cannabis community have their eyes fixed on the new prime minister’s movements.
But, if anyone is watching Trudeau closely right now, then it is the cannabis-related industry in Canada. The main companies’ shares rose after Trudeau’s victory was announced. According to data published by The Guardian, Canopy Growth Co., the main local producer, saw its shares surge by 21% in the stock market the morning after Liberal Party’s victory, the previous week, they had already increased their value by 29%.
Trudeau’s promise of regulating marijuana in the best possible way is indeed the catalyst that the Canadian industry needed to take off, in the same way is happening to their neighbors in the South.
Bruce Linton, Canopy Growth’s CEO expressed this perfectly when, after Trudeau´s win, he stated: “What we’ll probably see, after this election, is the acknowledgement that there is an opportunity of collecting taxes on something that’s already being sold in the market illegally”.
As much as we’re glad to see how changes lead towards legalization and regulation of cannabis in Canada, it’s inevitable to feel mistrust since economic reasons are the main cause for tackling the question of cannabis (although Trudeau repeatedly mentioned being worried about minors protection and organized crime). Success in this task, and many other factors that will decide the success or failure of cannabis normalization, now depend on what precedents the new prime minister decides to study, and the approach he’s got in mind to take the next step towards National regulation, which will make Canada the first world power to entirely legalize the farming, selling and recreational use of cannabis, following in Uruguay’s steps, the first country that entirely legalized cannabis, even if the changes haven’t been enforced there yet.
We’ll be watching Mr. Trudeau…