Majority of municipalities support retail cannabis sales

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This article was published 19/01/2018 (2286 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Eleven of 18 local municipalities have told the province they intend to allow retail cannabis sales within their boundaries beginning this summer, though many councils made the decision while awaiting more detailed information from other levels of government.

The RMs of Ste Anne, Ritchot, Tache, De Salaberry, Reynolds, Montcalm, Piney, and Emerson-Franklin all responded in the affirmative to a non-binding provincial survey circulated last month, as did the Town of Niverville, Town of Morris, and Village of St Pierre.

Councils from six other municipalities—the City of Steinbach, Town of Ste Anne, and RMs of Morris, Hanover, La Broquerie, and Springfield—said they remain undecided on the question.

Only the RM of Stuartburn told the province it intends to ban retail cannabis outlets in its communities. Chief administrative officer Lucie Maynard said a lack of detailed information was the reason for the decision.

That same point was made by many local reeves, mayors, and CAOs contacted this week by The Carillon, regardless of their response to the survey.

Tache mayor Robert Rivard said more information will be welcomed by council, but acknowledged it is unlikely to reverse the municipality’s decision.

“The way we looked at it was, it’s going to be a legal product, and we wouldn’t want to see ourselves as being the ones to restrict whether or not it’s sold by a businessperson in our municipality,” he said.

Rivard and Town of Morris mayor Gavin van der Linde said their respective municipalities are currently reviewing their zoning bylaws too with an eye towards retail cannabis regulations.

A public hearing on proposed updates to Tache’s zoning bylaw is scheduled for Jan. 22.

RM of Morris reeve Ralph Groening said he helms “a business-friendly council” that remains undecided but will discuss specific business proposals as they arise.

Piney CAO Martin Van Osch said council’s October 2017 revision of its zoning bylaw anticipated marijuana legalization by including provisions on cannabis retail and medical marijuana production.

“We were aware of changes on the horizon,” he said, adding he was not surprised to see land use questions on cannabis eventually fall to municipal councils.

Meanwhile, a province-wide summary of survey responses provided by a spokesperson for Growth, Enterprise and Trade Minister Blaine Pedersen indicated 71 percent of Manitoba’s 137 incorporated municipalities said yes, 13 percent said no, and 16 percent either remained undecided or requested further information.

RM of Springfield council resolved on Dec. 19 to write Pedersen about the dearth of detailed information available to municipalities. On Monday, CAO Russell Phillips said no response had been received.

A Town of Ste Anne council resolution suggested the municipality may first seek community input before responding to the province’s survey.

The province’s survey response tally arrives just days after the Association of Manitoba Municipalities presented the results of a Probe Research poll on cannabis taxation revenues.

The poll found 59 percent of Manitoban respondents believed at least half of revenues from marijuana sales should go to municipalities. Another 16 percent of those surveyed were unsure of the best way to divvy up taxation revenues.

A separate Probe Research poll on workplace-related issues conducted last fall found 73 percent of Manitoban respondents believed employers should have the right to administer on-the-job marijuana screening tests to employees.