The government called on former Liberal cabinet minister Anne McLellan to lead a nine-member task force on marijuana legalization and regulation. She was hired because of her political know-how and the expertise she gained as a minister of health, justice and public safety in the 1990s and 2000s. The panel will provide its findings to the government and the public by November, with new legislation to come in the spring of 2017. The background of the nine members on the panel suggests they will recommend a regime that will be more restrictive than liberal.