Mayors press Trudeau Liberals for help to handle legalized marijuana

OTTAWA — The mayors of Canada’s biggest cities say they need a slice of the tax windfall from legal marijuana to cover what they describe as significant costs associated with enforcing a signature initiative from the federal Liberals.

They raised their concerns with cabinet ministers this week, pressing the case that some tax revenues from sale of the drug must filter down to cover costs associated with land-use issues, business licensing applications and enforcement once the purchase, sale and recreational use of the drug is no longer illegal.

The parliamentary budget officer estimated in a report last year that sales tax revenue to federal and provincial governments combined could be as low as $356 million and as high as $959 million in the first year of legalization, depending on the price put on cannabis and usage.

“We’re not in a position to collect any (taxes),” Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson, chair of the mayors’ group, said in an interview this week.

“One conversation that we think is important to have is support for local governments dealing with the costs of enforcement.”

It would be up to local police to enforce impaired driving laws, provisions about sales to minors and any necessary bylaws for dispensaries that open up in communities. Halifax Mayor Mike Savage said cities are asking the federal government for more details as early as the fall about how the law will impact them. “We also need some clarity around the law…,” Savage said.

Several mayors say they feel the Trudeau Liberals are moving at breakneck speed, leaving them little time to prepare for the new regime. The Liberals hope to make marijuana legal by the summer of 2018.

“The one thing that, of course, concerns me is the timing of how quickly this is occurring, especially given that I certainly have concerns about likely increased costs to policing,” said Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman.

The government’s legalization bill, C-45, was being debated at second reading in the House of Commons on Friday, blocks away from where thousands of delegates were gathered for the annual meeting of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.

Trudeau addressed the gathering in the morning after the official start of the annual meeting, focusing on what local leaders describe as an opioid epidemic in their communities.

Health officials and political leaders have been sounding the alarm about a dramatic spike in opioid deaths across Canada.