Orillia city councillors have a big decision to make in January.
Orillia, like all Ontario municipalities, must decide by Jan. 22 if it wants to get into the pot business.
Bill 36 legalized the sale of recreational cannabis. Since Oct. 17, Ontarians have had the ability to purchase pot through the Ontario Cannabis Store’s website.
But as of April 1, 2019, people will also have the option to purchase recreational cannabis at licensed retail operations – but only in municipalities that “opt in” to the province’s plan.
Shawn Crawford, the city’s manager of legislative services, told council committee Monday night that he would be bringing a detailed report, along with a draft bylaw on the matter, to the Jan. 14 council meeting.
“Municipalities have the ability to opt out,” noted Crawford, adding council has the “ability to ban cannabis stores in Orillia.”
If council chooses to opt out, it can, at any time, change its mind. However, if council votes to opt in, it cannot later change its mind, Crawford noted.
Retail cannabis stores, he stressed, will be licenced by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario. Citizens and the municipality will have a 15-day period to weigh in on any licence request.
However, Crawford noted the municipality has virtually no power in the process if it opens the door to retail operations.
He said the legislation makes it clear a city cannot, for example, use bylaws or zoning regulations to prohibit a retail cannabis store from operating in a specific area such as the downtown. A municipality also cannot limit or control the number of stores that might open.
On top of that, if a municipality opts out, it will lose out on funding from the province – a move that officials predict could cost Orillia about $100,000 a year.
“There is a bit of a carrot from the province,” Crawford explained. “If you opt in, you will receive more funding” than a municipality that opts out.
He said he met with the treasurer to get a sense of what that funding might look like for Orillia and they came up with “a conservative” estimate of $100,000.
While no decision was made Monday night, the spectre of the coming decision sparked a lot of debate around the council table.
“I am very unhappy that municipalities have so little power and we can’t limit the number of stores selling the product in our downtown,” said Ward 4 Coun. Pat Hehn.
“My concern is if we opt out, we appear to solve nothing. The product will still be available online and in neighbouring municipalities,” said Hehn. “We are not solving anything by opting out and we’ll miss receiving the grant money which could be helpful.”
Orillia Mayor Steve Clarke agreed.
“I will say I was disappointed in the draft legislation … from the province that did not limit the number of stores that could be located in a municipality and extremely disappointed that it could be allowed to be consumed or smoked in the same areas as tobacco,” said Clarke.
He said the issue will likely force “council to revisit the tobacco smoking bylaw” as a way of dealing with the proliferation of pot use. The mayor said he would like to see pot smoking banned in public spaces, but noted sidewalks are not, technically, within the municipality’s jurisdiction.
Crawford agreed. Under the Municipal Act, a municipality “cannot ban smoking of tobacco on” what the legislation calls a ‘highway’ but, in reality, is any sidewalk, boulevard or road.
However, he noted three Ontario municipalities have, using other components of the Municipal Act, found a way to ban cannabis smoking in public spaces – including sidewalks and roads.
“The three municipalities referenced have gone so far to ban cannabis use on sidewalks (by) relying on other sections of the Municipal Act which provide other broad powers” to regulate health and safety and to regulate nuisance. “The … authority does exist.”
Crawford also noted the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit is in the process of obtaining a legal opinion “with regard to authority for municipalities to ban cannabis use” on roads and streets. “The health unit will share that legal opinion (with us) so I will be equipped with that in January.”
Council also was informed retail cannabis stores must be stand-alone operations. They cannot, for example, be within other stores such as convenience stores. A person can purchase a maximum of one ounce at a time and can only do so in person.
Crawford also noted the changes will not impact medicinal marijuana stores; they will continue to be regulated by the federal government.
Council will have to weigh all these factors prior to making its decision in January. It’s expected council will take a two-pronged approach: making a decision to opt in or opt out while also revisiting the smoking bylaw as it might relate to cannabis consumption in public spaces.
