Sen. Tony Dean will speak at the University of Guelph on March 19 about the road to cannabis legalization in Canada.

Hosted by the College of Social and Applied Human Sciences, the event will be held at 7 p.m. in Rozanski Hall, Room 102.

Sen. Dean was the Senate sponsor of Bill C-45 – The Cannabis Act. The bill, which legalized access to recreational cannabis and regulates how cannabis is grown, distributed and sold, received Royal Assent in the Senate last June.

Before its assent, lawmakers examined many policy areas that would be affected by cannabis legalization, including questions about public safety, criminal justice and enforcement, and social and economic policy.

Dean spent many years in the public service before his appointment in 2016 as an independent senator. He served as the head of the Ontario Public Service as well as Secretary of the Cabinet. He was also a professor in the School of Public Policy at the University of Toronto.