New Democratic Party leadership hopefuls have accused the federal government of having no intention of legalizing marijuana.
The accusations arose on Sunday during the second NDP leadership debate in Montreal, which focused especially on issues affecting Canadian youth.
Niki Ashton, Member of Parliament for Manitoba, was the first leadership candidate to respond to a question posed by the moderator regarding legalization.
"This is one of the promises where the Liberals certainly lied," began Ashton around 29 minutes into the debate. "Many young people... voted for them because of their promise on legalizing marijuana... but as was mentioned, they are continuing to criminalize our generation and many other Canadians by continuing to charge and convict."
B.C. MP Peter Julian also condemned the Liberal government, expressing doubt that the Liberal Government will bring in legalization at all.
"I do not believe Justin Trudeau is going to bring in the legalization of marijuana," said Julian 30 minutes into the debate. "and as proof of that ... we are still seeing, particularly young Canadians, being criminalized by simple possession of marijuana."
Lastly, Charlie Angus, an MP for Ontario, also critiqued the Liberals for campaigning on a promise that he believes they had no intention of keeping.
"They said we will immediately legalize marijuana and they had no intention," said Angus at almost 31 and-a-half minutes into the debate.
Aside from marijuana, the debate also focused on a number of other prominent issues, including student debt and employment opportunities.
The federal government announced in February that it was going to begin discussions with Canadians across to country to get input on shaping regulation policy and creating appropriate safeguards for the production and sale of marijuana.
