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That deadline could not have been met were senators to adopt the proposal advanced by Armstrong. In his paper, he argued that a special committee is needed to conduct a thorough examination of a lengthy list of complex issues — including the impact of high-potency cannabis on the formation of sperm, the societal impact of online cannabis sales and whether Indigenous people are “negatively predisposed to cannabis, like alcohol.”

“This document does not reflect our views,” Smith’s spokeswoman, Karine Leroux, said in a statement.

“It is inconsistent with our approach to the bill, the due diligence being applied to it by our caucus, and our work with our Senate colleagues over the past number of weeks. To date, we are satisfied with the process of examination taking place on Bill C-45 and anticipate no change with the third reading vote set for on or before June 7th, 2018.”

Carignan, who is the lead Conservative senator on C-45, said in an interview that he hired Armstrong a few months ago on a short-term contract to advise him on the bill. That contract was cut short Friday.

“He was finished today,” Carignan said.

While he welcomed the Conservatives’ repudiation of the paper, Sen. Yuen Pau Woo, leader of the Independent Senators Group, said the incident raises questions about why Armstrong was hired in the first place, who was supervising him and what instructions he received from his employer.

Woo noted that Armstrong’s paper was laid out and designed to look like an official Senate report, complete with the upper chamber’s logo. It identified the author only as “Dr. Malcolm Armstrong,” with no mention that he worked for a senator. Armstrong is not a medical doctor; he has a PhD in philosophy.