The June 7 deadline could not have been met were senators to adopt the proposal advanced by Malcolm Armstrong, who argued that a special committee should examine a lengthy list of complex issues.

Senators are being encouraged to postpone a vote on a bill to legalize recreational cannabis by a now-former employee of the Conservative’s chief critic of the legislation.

Sen. Claude Carignan said Friday he did not authorize Malcolm Armstrong, whom he’d hired on contract to advise him on the marijuana issue, to propose delaying the vote. The Conservative senator called the idea “crazy” and unrealistic.

Indeed, Carignan said he fired Armstrong on Friday after finding out he’d circulated a paper among independent senators urging them to postpone the final vote on Bill C-45 until they hear back from a special committee that he suggested should be set up to study aspects of legalization that have not yet been adequately considered.

– Read the entire article at The Star.