News

TobaGrown lawsuit over homegrown rights wraps up

Published on September 7, 2023 by David Wylie

Photo: Contributed

Jesse Lavoie, who is behind TobaGrown, says he’s making his “last stand” in court Friday for the right to grow four cannabis plants in Manitoba.

Lavoie is presenting final arguments Friday, Sept. 8, in a three-year legal battle against the provincial conservative PC party government’s ban on the province’s federal right to grow up to four cannabis plants for personal use.

He’ll be accompanied by his legal team.

They argue their right to grow was stolen by the provincial government.

“This law was unconstitutional when it was drafted, and it is unconstitutional now given the significant differences between the law as written in Quebec and the law as written in Manitoba, ” says Jack Lloyd, one of TobaGrown’s lawyers.

“It is clear the Murray-Hall (Quebec) decision does not bind the Manitoba courts given the significant differences between the two laws.”

In the news release, TobaGrown encouraged a rally on the front steps of the Manitoba Legislative Building on at 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. on Friday.

Kirk Tousaw, also a lawyer with TobaGrown, says: “We are confident that the Court will understand that Manitoba’s prohibition is actually criminal law in nature because it allows for significant penalties such as imprisonment for up to one year, whereas Quebec’s law imposes only a very small fine.”