The cannabis reform will be ‘the number one priority’ for Minister for Equality, Research, Innovation and the Co-Ordination of Post COVID-19 Strategy, as he believes that people who smoke cannabis should not be treated as criminals.

Bonnici was handed the reforms and equality portfolio from PL MP Rosianne Cutajar after her resignation from parliamentary secretary was made permanent due to an identified ethics breach by Standards Commissioner George Hyzler.

The Malta Independent on Sunday sat with the Minister to discuss his new portfolio as well as the National Post-Pandemic Strategy which was published a few days ago. One of the reforms that Cutajar worked on was on cannabis, on which a white paper for consultation was issued, and the minister remarked that he is keen to see it implemented.

“That is my number one priority. A cannabis reform is long overdue, and I agree completely with the white paper which was issued. I'm taking stock of the feedback which came after the white paper was issued – with more than 300 proposals – and I'm studying them carefully,” he said.

“I'm completely in agreement with the way forward as proposed in the white paper and that will be my number one priority; to make sure that people who smoke cannabis at home stop being treated as criminals,” the minister remarked. This is as it doesn’t make sense to discriminate against those who “make use of cannabis in a sensible and responsible manner.”

Regarding the National Post-Pandemic Strategy, the minister said that it is a “blueprint” for the future.

“The world changed after COVID-19, and so we needed to recalibrate and see our way forward. The advantage is that we can look towards the future from a position of strength. While other countries are intervening to save jobs, we are in a position where we can plan ahead,” he said.

The minister said that now that the post pandemic strategy has been published, the next step is to see its implementation. “That is why we have turned the committee – which took care of designing the strategy – into a monitoring committee, which will be led by Professor Simone Borg,” the Minister said.

Wellbeing and education

Wellbeing and mental health are issues which were mentioned in the strategy, and the minister said that these are important to address.

“The number of people who suffer from mental health is high in Malta, and that was before the pandemic. Imagine now, with an ongoing pandemic. I think that the strategy is quite clear.”

Education was also another point that was mentioned in the strategy, which highlighted that the education sector would need to “refocus” after the pandemic. Asked to elaborate further on this, the minister said that this will entail analysing what children lost in terms of education during Covid-19 as well as the skills which the country will need in the future.

“It's useless to say that we need to embrace the digital transitions and the ecological transitions if we do not have the skills we actually need. There is a whole argument to be made regarding training people and the education system, which should be recalibrated to make sure that they respond to the needs of today,” he said.

Good governance

The strategy also addressed the need to continue improving on good governance. The minister was asked what the country needs to do, especially after the grey listing by the Financial Advisory Task Force (FATF).

“We have a reformist agenda, so we're going to keep reforming. The work already started to make sure that we will address the issues which the FATF mentioned,” he said.

However, the minister pointed out that good governance should be worked on in order to ensure to have a better country. “It's not just to pass the exam only, but we believe that it's part of our vision. In the Post-Pandemic Strategy, good governance is part of the vision, and we believe that good governance helps to achieve a better country,” he said.

It was noted that good governance has been an issue for previous administrations, but the Minister said that the Labour Government has introduced “a plethora of laws” which “took good governance to the next level.”

“Party financing and financing legislation, the Whistleblower Act, the law striking off prescription in case of corruption, the reforms in the method of appointment of the judiciary, the method of appointment of the president of Malta, as well as others were introduced. Of course, the actions by certain individuals, put everything into test. That's why each public person carries with him a lot of responsibility in what he does,” he said.

Remote working

One of the ways in which the pandemic changed the world concerns working from home, which has skyrocketed since the pandemic’s inception. This is something which goes hand in hand with the digitisation of the country, something which both the government and the Opposition seek to implement. Asked about what the reaction of employers and employees regarding this was, the minister said that they were mixed.

“This is something we have to tackle hand in hand with the employers. Some employers will tell you one thing, and others will tell you another thing. But what I'm sure and I'm confident in is that there is a realization that things can be done differently. And if things can be done differently, and both the employers and the employees stand to benefit, there is no reason why we shouldn't do things differently,” he said. 

Disaster Recovery Preparedness

A disaster recovery preparedness plan is also something which the Post-Pandemic Strategy Committee seeks to coordinate. The minister was asked to elaborate further on this.

“It's up to the individual ministries to flesh those pointers with particular strategies and focused approaches. But what we're saying there is that Covid-19 was a wakeup call that huge things can happen even to us as a country, as we were living under the idea that nothing bad can ever happen to this country,” he said.

“There are things which can happen, a pandemic is one of them. And one of the lessons we've learned from it is that we have to be prepared for when that happens, and that is why we are looking towards creating this cushion for the future.”

Prostitution

After handing the Prime Minister handed the reforms and equality portfolio to Minister Bonnici, Malta’s Coalition on Human Trafficking and Prostitution Reform called on Bonnici to change the police on prostitution adopted by his predecessor Rosianne Cutajar. Asked about this, the minister said that he “is going to listen” to all stakeholders first.

“The first thing I did when the statement was issued was to email the person who issued it and see what their concern is. I'm also meeting the committee which the government has, which is advising the government on the way forward on prostitution,” he said.

The minister noted that the government has a mandate and an electoral pledge to promote the debate on regularisation and decriminalisation of prostitution. This would be done “with the principal aim being to protect vulnerable people from being exploited as sex workers, and at the same time we bolster our fight against human trafficking,” he said.

“We've all been listening to stories of vulnerable people who are prostitutes, and they end up facing criminal charges against them, and that is something which we need to regularize; we have to create a more humane system. But at the same time, we must make sure that we protect them from abuse and exploitation,” he said.  

Future Prospects

Regarding his future prospects since he was given the additional portfolio, the minister said that equality “is at the heart of what made me join the Labour Party.”

“It is the party which promotes social mobility. I come from a working class family and we've moved ahead the long and hard way, if you want to put it that way. Social mobility for me is crucial and has a lot to do with equality in our society, so everyone must have the opportunity to fulfil his or her potential,” the Minister said.  

“I joined the Labour Party precisely for that, because I saw it as the best vehicle to push forwards social mobility and equality so that everyone can realize his or her potential,” he said.