AGCO TO POLICE CANNABIS SELLERS

Province adds new vice to agency’s mandate

The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario has been policing the province’s bars and bingo halls since 1998. As of this month, however, it has a whole new responsibility: marijuana.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s government designated the Crown agency last week as the coming licensing authority and regulator-to-be for the privately run recreational cannabis stores that are slated to start opening in the province next spring.

“The AGCO would have the authority to enforce compliance, including, if necessary, revoking licences from stores that fail to comply with the conditions set by the province,” the government said in a press release.

In making the move, Ford has handed oversight of the biggest provincial cannabis retail market in Canada to a relatively quiet regulator, albeit one that has a broad authority when it comes to Ontarians’ vices. The agency’s licensing and regulatory duties range from the sale and service of alcohol, to the province’s lotteries and casinos, to horse racing.

Bingo halls and lotteries dedicated to raising money for charity fall under the AGCO’S purview as well. The AGCO also conducts investigations, such as into allegations of race fixing.

In addition to supervising bars and registering lottery ticket retailers, some of the agency’s other duties were outlined in the AGCO’S most recent annual report. They included, but were not limited to: “Licensing games of chance at fairs and exhibitions;” “Monitoring and enforcing equine medication control programs; and “Arbitrating disputes between two or more claimants for a lottery ticket prize.”

“Through 2016-2017, the AGCO authorized additional operators to sell beer, cider and wine in grocery stores, while setting regulations for the responsible sale of these products,” the report added.

As of the same year, the AGCO said the total number of its licensees and registrants under its umbrella was 65,423, which was 30-per-cent alcohol-related, 26-per-cent horse racingrelated, 26-per-cent gaming and charitable gaming-related, and 18-per-cent lotteryrelated.

“Fees and levies” for the AGCO hit $25.6 million in 2016-17, up from $25 million for the previous fiscal year. Salaries and benefits climbed to $71 million from $63.3 million.

Another responsibility for the agency is overseeing the administration of the “Special Occasion Permit” program, which allows Ontarians to sell and serve alcohol at events such as weddings. There were 64,643 of these permits issued in 2016-17, according to the AGCO’S annual report.

The AGCO has continued to ratchet up its enforcement as well. It created a new compliance branch in June 2016, which also housed a new anti-money laundering unit.

On the governance side, the AGCO is led by a board of directors chaired by S. Grace Kerr, who was appointed by the then-liberal government (before its ouster in June’s provincial election) to a twoyear term that runs until May 2019.

The agency is not without some familiarity with cannabis. According to the AGCO’S annual report, the agency had previously been tapped by the province’s attorneygeneral for help “in the development of a regulatory framework for cannabis in Ontario.”

“The AGCO has been coordinating internally to provide support and advice to (the Ministry of the Attorney General) where needed, leveraging its expertise in regulating the alcohol, gaming and horse racing the report said.

“Efforts have been limited to an advisory role into government pending a decision about the structure of the regulation of cannabis in Ontario.”

Under legislation introduced at Queen’s Park last week, notices of applications to run a pot shop would be posted on the AGCO website, as well as at the proposed physical location, similar to the process for wouldbe bars. It appears that the AGCO will have a fair bit of discretion over these applications as well.

The Ontario government is looking to have the AGCO start accepting cannabisstore applications by December. A spokesperson for the agency said in an email that: “We will be moving quickly but thoroughly to define the licence application process and will share more detailed information as it becomes available in the coming weeks.” sectors,”

THE AGCO HAS BEEN CO-ORDINATING INTERNALLY TO PROVIDE SUPPORT AND ADVICE.