Pot shop coming to town, whether you like it or not

Communities across Ontario will not be allowed to opt out of having provincial pot pedlars set up on their main drags, or anywhere else within their borders.

The province made this schoolmarmish ruling after one community said it was not in favour of having a cannabis retail store open in town.

Municipalities are responsible for policing, traffic, infrastructure, social services and so much more that might be affected by a pot shop. Apparently the province doesn’t care about any of that.

If you think you’ve heard this song before, it’s because you have.

This government’s default position is to run roughshod over local rights and decision making whenever it’s expedient. That has been made clear time and again, particularly in rural Ontario.

It’s not that long ago that all planning controls and local decision making were deemed unworthy of consideration on the question of locating wind turbines in the province.

Dalton McGuinty, premier at the time, made the incredible statement that opposition would be all from the “not in my backyard” folks.

With that he ruled out consideration of any valid opposition to turbines, before the process even began. Vladimir Putin would be proud.

It has been proven time and again, that on the turbine issue government didn’t know best. There are endless problems from turbines and wind factories, most of which are unresolved by a government that doesn’t seem interested.

The Queen’s Park focus is squarely on the burgeoning turbine industry and the associated out-of-control expenses, including the high costs of getting rid of excess power.

The problems with wind factories weren’t all identified in advance, of course, just as they won’t be predetermined with pot shops.

The provincial criteria for locating these new liquor-control type shops will depend upon a wide array of factors, varying from hard and fast rules developed in Queen’s Park to a grumpy bureaucrat making an individual decision, influenced only by the fact he got out of the wrong side of the bed that morning.

If local governments have no say over the initial location of stores, it would be wise for the province to have an efficient way of dealing with complaints after opening day.

That brings us back to turbines. Wind Concerns Ontario, an anti-turbine organization, has government documents that show no response to more than half turbine-related complaints in certain areas.

In spite of this and an array of other issues, the province is in the process of considering five more turbine projects.

Even the fact that the wind turbines are inefficient in the extreme and not nearly as green as advocates claim, didn’t slow the headlong rush to wind energy.

Queen’s Park is populated by folks who believe “we-know-better-than-you-country-rubes” and that attitude prevailed for turbines just as it now seems to be the strategic plan for pot shops.

Time and again the Wynne government has promised additional input from municipalities about the placement of turbines. And time and again they go up whether they’re wanted or not.

So the following statement about pot stores from a spokeswoman for Finance Minister Charles Sousa will sound familiar.

“As we roll out the next phase of stores, we will continue to engage with municipalities on an ongoing basis, including with those municipalities who may not be ready for a store opening in July 2018.”

Translation: we’ll give you a shout to tell you when a store is coming to your town, whether you like it or not.