Alberta pot laws too lax: Friesen
Public services committee chair says stronger showing from the province would have avoided added pressures on municipalities to appease local residents with sufficient marijuana rules
The head of a city council committee in charge of drafting local rules surrounding public cannabis use says the province should have taken a larger role in laying down stronger province-wide rules.
Coun. Julie Friesen made the comment to the News as local governments meet in Red Deer to discuss lobbying the province to blend enforcement of public marijuana use into existing criminal legislation about drinking in public.
“I believe it would certainly help,” said Friesen, who is not attending the Red Deer annual meetings of the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association, where the resolution will be voted on.
“Some but not all municipalities have passed their own bylaws, and that might cause confusion. My hope would have be that the province dealt with this more concretely earlier on.
“But they were under some tight timelines here — everyone was.”
This week the public services committee that Friesen chairs signalled council could reverse an earlier staff directive to fold marijuana use into existing antitobacco restrictions.
The substance will become legal for adults to use on Oct. 17, and if localized rules are to be in place by then, a bylaw would need to be introduced on Monday for passage Oct. 15.
This week, Redcliff council tabled its cannabis public use bylaw at third reading until the Medicine Hat proposed bylaw could be examined.
The change in the city process is in response to a briefing note from the Medicine Hat Police Service, which states enforcement would be difficult, and they predict a major upswing in complaints if citizens are presented with people smoking marijuana in common places.
Smoking tobacco is prohibited under Alberta law in public buildings or within five metres of doorways and most parks.
The provincial cannabis restriction builds off legislation meant to “de-normalize” smoking, while alcohol consumption is essentially restricted to private homes and licensed establishments. There is currently no provision to open a cannabis cafe, or similar venue, in Alberta.
Ontario announced on Thursday that marijuana could be legally smoked anywhere that tobacco is allowed. Saskatchewan as well will impose a standard similar to Alberta’s.
Friesen said feedback she’s heard from residents is heavily in favour of stronger local rules than those imposed on cigarette smokers.
“There are so many strongly held viewpoints and there are some realities to deal with,” she said. “The majority that I’ve heard are leaning more towards no public consumption than what we’d been considering.”
Big topics on agenda
Alberta’s local governments are seeking a new framework for sharing provincial and federal revenue at AUMA meetings this week.
Among 19 proposed resolutions on the agenda as municipal leaders meet in Red Deer, is a key financial item. It calls for the province to replace its most common infrastructure fund, the Municipal Sustainability Initiative, with a standardized revenue sharing formula for local governments.
That follows a push by cities at the federal level to provide a portion of revenue on an ongoing basis, rather than through applications, grants and other programs.
Mayor Ted Clugston said he’s long supported the idea of annual allotment rather than myriad programs and grants.
“It’s so difficult when municipalities are pitted against each other for overpasses, or grants, or new hospitals,” he said. “We should be working together, but we’re all trying to get a piece of the piece.
“MSI was close to a fair funding formula, but one-off announcements drive me nuts.”
The program is set to expire in 202122, and gives cities significant leeway to determine how money is spent.
In Medicine Hat, portions of the annual $13-million grant have recently gone toward fire station relocation, the reconstruction of S. Railway Street and a variety of other construction projects.
All told for Medicine Hat, provincial and federal grants administered by the province totalled $35.7 million in the 2016-17 budget year.
That included $6.5 million in one-off funding for flood berm construction, and a $3.4-million gas tax allocation.
During the same time period, the Town of Redcliff received $5.6 million, including a specific $3.4 million for waterplant construction, and $1.3 million from MSI.
Cypress County’s $5.5 million total was made up mostly of $4.5 million in MSI funds.