Steinbach City Council votes against cannabis plebiscite

City of Steinbach councillors voted against having a cannabis plebiscite after receiving a letter requesting one.

In his letter to Mayor Earl Funk, TobaGrown founder Jesse Lavoie requested that council pass a resolution to hold a plebiscite to open retail cannabis stores in the city.

“While we fully respect the outcome of the 2018 vote, it was held during a time when there was no operational data, limited public awareness, and significant uncertainty about the long-term impacts of legalization,” stated Lavoie, noting if council chose not to pass a resolution allowing for the plebiscite then TobaGrown would be prepared to “initiate a citizen-led petition to ensure this important issue returns to the ballot.”

“Seven years later, we now have substantial evidence demonstrating that the regulated cannabis industry is contributing positively to local economies, public safety, and community health across Canada,” he wrote.

In 2018, the city held a plebiscite where 55 percent of eligible voters voted 76 percent not to have retail cannabis stores in the city.

“I think that’s significant. I don’t think in seven years things have changed that much. I don’t personally would like to see us get into where we’re having plebiscite for this every year or every election until it does get approved and wears people down. I would like to look at it as the people have spoken,” said Mayor Earl Funk.

Coun. Michael Zwaagstra was against the plebiscite as he felt the matter was settled in 2018 and since the matter was driven by a Winnipeg cannabis retailer and not by a local business or resident he felt the matter was closed. He also felt that when Steinbach approved liquor sales in the city that brought restaurants and lounges.

“Allowing cannabis sales in Steinbach what does that bring? It brings cannabis stores nothing else…I’m not interested in initiating (a referendum). We’ve got more important things to do with our time.”

Coun. Jac Siemens was the lone voice on council for the measure. His thoughts were that residents should be allowed to decide if there should be cannabis retail stores in the city and that he was made aware that Steinbachers are going to Ste Anne to buy marijuana already. He was also concerned that the request came from a business owner who wants to put a store in Steinbach and that “now it’s an economic thing too. It’s hiring people it’s different things.”

“We have grown by 7,000 people roughly in the last eight to 10 years and we’ve had a lot of new voters, and perspectives do change, and attitudes do change, and I think their voice needs to be heard because council made the decision that it should be their voice not council’s voice to make the decision,” he said, noting the request from TobaGrown was to put the question into the next municipal election in October 2026.

Siemens said from about 1970 to about 2012 Steinbach held six liquor referendums before liquor sales were given a green light.

“And each time it was defeated and then narrowly defeated so it was tiresome to go through that process for council too, but because it’s binding referendum – it’s not a council decision – where it now it has to go to referendum each time. So we went through that over and over again. When Boston Pizza applied to come to Steinbach they said the only way they would come to Steinbach was if they could have a bar and that initiated a referendum.”

Funk said if TobaGrown can get 20 percent of residents to sign a petition for a plebiscite they are welcome to do it, but that he has never been approached by a resident about having retail cannabis in Steinbach.

“No one has come to me to say that we need it. Given that this is a non-resident that is asking for this I don’t feel that enough has changed that we should go into having a plebiscite…with nobody coming to me I think someone would be hard pressed to get 20 percent of the registered voters to sign the petition.”

Manitoba sold $153.6 million worth of cannabis in the fiscal year ending on March 31, 2024, bringing in $39.5 million in net revenue for the province.