At their final meeting of 2017, Virden town council decided that it doesn’t have enough information to either say yes or no to the sale of cannabis when it becomes legal later this year.
The Association of Manitoba Municipalities (AMM) sent out a one-question survey asking whether or not municipal governments across the province are prepared to permit retail sales of cannabis in their jurisdiction. The deadline to respond was Dec. 22.
Council voted unanimously on Dec. 19 to ask the provincial government for more information on how municipalities will be affected by the trade in marijuana before councillors are prepared to take a stand.
Councillor Zac Penner said, “I don’t know enough about the impact it will have to say yes or no. What will the costs be to the town? Will we have to pay for extra policing? That’s the piece that’s missing.”
Another issue: If there are added costs to local government such as policing or zoning, will the province share a portion of pot revenues with them? The announced framework so far indicates a federal-provincial split of taxes with no mention of a share for local government.
Taxable Product
Councillor Tara Cowan sees legal cannabis as an economic opportunity, “just another product to tax.”
She said, “I don’t know why we’d restrict a new business from coming here.”
A number of other southwest Manitoba towns and RMs have weighed in on the question of weed legalization, and a majority voted to support it.
Those saying yes to pot include: the RMs of Wallace-Woodworth, Pipestone, Two Borders, Brenda-Waskada, Souris-Glenwood, Grassland and Riverdale.
Voting ‘No’ were the RM of Sifton, which includes Oak Lake, and the RM of Whitehead.
Virden, Hamiota, and several other municipalities decided to withhold their vote until more information is available.
Virden Mayor Jeff McConnell said the AMM questionnaire isn’t binding on towns that complete it, but the answers may help the government design its cannabis plan.
The AMM conducted the survey on the request of Manitoba’s Minister of Growth, Enterprise and Trade.
Manitoba was the first province in the country to decide to allow private businesses to sell legal marijuana.
