High hopes for pot
With legalization of marijuana expected to create thousands of jobs, NDP, Greens prepare policies
VICTORIA — After decades as a marijuana renegade, British Columbia is eagerly anticipating the federal government’s bill legalizing marijuana.
Growing marijuana has become a backyard tradition in B.C., and medical marijuana dispensaries in Vancouver and Victoria rival Tim Hortons outlets in number. Politicians, entrepreneurs and ordinary citizens are convinced marijuana offers unprecedented economic, social and health opportunities as Ottawa gets ready to introduce its legislation.
Vancouver-based Tantalus Labs, which grows medical marijuana in greenhouses, released a report this month that said the industry could create 15,000 jobs in B.C.
It said B.C.’s illegal marijuana market provides 40 per cent of Canada’s black market and is worth $2.7 billion, with 85 per cent of that going to organized crime.
Dan Sutton, executive director at Tantalus, said he’s worried B.C. is lagging behind Nova Scotia, Ontario and Alberta in developing a legal marijuana industry and could lose out.
“B.C. bud is a household name, globally,” said Sutton. “We have a storied cultural history associated with cannabis, and it’s time for us to leverage that brand.”
None of B.C.’s provincial political parties have touted marijuana legalization in the May 9 election campaign, he said.
NDP Leader John Horgan said he supports legalization.
“I’ve been thinking about it a lot,” he said in a recent interview.
Horgan has studied marijuana policy and the opportunities from legalizing the drug.
Last year, he sent two of his most senior caucus members, Carole James and Mike Farnworth, to Washington and Oregon to view how those states implemented and adapted to legal marijuana use and sales.
“We need to be prepared here in B.C.,” Horgan said.
Horgan said he’s met with the B.C. Government Service Employees Union about marijuana sales. The union has 4,000 members at government-run liquor stores and provincial liquor distribution outlets.
He’s also met with operators of private beer and wine stores, pharmacies, marijuana dispensaries and craft beer brewers.
“We need to find a way, a (sales and distribution) model that, I think, is a hybrid of all those things,” Horgan said.
He said he supports the sale of marijuana for recreational users at government liquor stores.
Stephanie Smith, the union’s president, said it has formed an alliance with private liquor store operators to lobby for the distribution and sales rights of recreational marijuana at their outlets. The union has met with B.C.’s Liberal government and the NDP, she said.
There are 198 government liquor stores and about 670 private stores in B.C.
Liberal Leader Christy Clark said she has three concerns about marijuana once it becomes legal: she wants organized crime out of the business, assurances that legal marijuana is safe and of high quality, and that it’s kept away from children.
Clark said in an interview last week she doesn’t want people to believe that there are no risks associated with smoking pot because the government has legalized it.
“Just like alcohol, it’s got a lot of harms associated with it, so I want to make sure we do everything we can to keep it out of the hands of kids.”
Green Leader Andrew Weaver said the Greens will support marketing opportunities for B.C. craft marijuana growers.
“We will fight very hard to ensure that the big multinationals do not step in and take up the market,” he said.
VANCOUVER — British Columbia’s Liberal government has ignored renters for the past 16 years and it’s high time someone offered them a helping hand, New Democrat Leader John Horgan says.
Horgan said that as premier he would introduce an annual $400 renter’s rebate if his party wins the provincial election on May 9.
“The message from the B.C. NDP today is that help is on the way,” Horgan said Wednesday during a campaign stop in downtown Vancouver.
He said the proposed rental subsidy would apply across the province and be available to all tenants, regardless of income.
“If homeowners can have a homeowner grant, renters should be able to have a grant as well.”
The soaring cost of home ownership has been a high-profile issue in B.C., and the provincial government has responded by creating several policies aimed at curbing real estate prices, including a 15 per cent buyer’s tax on nonCanadians and non-permanent residents.
A homeowner grant provides a $570 break in property tax to people who own homes worth less than $1.6 million.
Premier Christy Clark increased the grant’s eligibility threshold from $1.2 million at the start of this year after a dramatic increase in the assessed value of homes, which would be taxed at higher rates.
Speaking in Burnaby on Wednesday, Clark criticized the NDP’s proposal, saying a renter’s credit would line the pockets of wealthy tenants who live in penthouses in downtown Vancouver.
“That isn’t right. We shouldn’t be redistributing our tax money to the very rich,” she said, adding the province already provides a rental subsidy to over 100,000 low-income renters.
Horgan said the $400 annual credit would apply to each rental unit, so multiple renters sharing a single residence wouldn’t receive a cumulative benefit.
He said an NDP government would also provide more resources for renters to file complaints through the Residential Tenancy Act and address “renovictions,” forbidding landlords from using renovations as an excuse to evict tenants and sidestep restrictions around rent increases.
However, Clark said Horgan’s proposal shows the New Democrats are “flying by the seat of their pants” and lack a clear plan.
She said the province has already earmarked $1 billion for new affordable housing, and her party would work with cities to speed up development.
“If there is not enough rental housing in the province, it’s partly because we still need cities to get to work and zone more rental housing,” she said.