Ford to consult cities on how to peddle pot
Premier-designate says federal plan for stores ‘dumped’ on provinces
Premier-designate Doug Ford says while he is “focusing” on the LCBO to run cannabis stores once the drug is legalized, no decision will be made until he’s consulted with his caucus and municipalities.
“What I said is I’d be focusing on the LCBO,” Ford told reporters Thursday after making an announcement in Pickering. “I’m private sector — I don’t believe government should stick their nose into everything,” however, he added, the Liquor Control Board of Ontario already has the infrastructure in place.
“This is a road that we have to tread carefully,” Ford also said. “… My priority is to make sure we protect the children. That’s a number-one priority.”
Ford also announced that the Green Ontario program, which provides rebates for environmentally friendly home retrofits, will be extended for two months.
“In order to help small businesses and families, our intention is to extend the install date of the GreenON program to Oct. 31, 2018” instead of the end of August, said PC spokesperson Simon Jefferies. The GreenON program is funded by proceeds from the cap-and-trade system, which Ford has said Ontario will no longer be a part of.
Jeff Wilder of Certified Windows in Windsor said he breathed a sigh of relief at the extension.
“It’s still going to be a little bit tight. A little bit more time would have been nice,” he told the Star. “We’re trying to get up to five or six crews to make everybody happy.”
Wilder said he may have to cancel about $200,000 in orders if they can’t be filled by the deadline, and noted the program was a bonanza for the business because of the $500 subsidy.
“People were getting a $1,200 window for $700.”
The federal government announced Wednesday that the sale of recreational cannabis will be legal as of Oct. 17. Under outgoing Premier Kathleen Wynne, the province had committed to opening 40 government-controlled stores this year, with a total of 150 by 2020. Her plan was that Ontario Cannabis Store outlets would be run by a subsidiary of the LCBO and operate standalone shops as well as online sales.
On Thursday, Ford said “this is a path that the federal government has dumped on all the provinces.”
The NDP says it will “push the Ford Conservatives to rollout legal cannabis sales in Ontario in a way that promotes social responsibility and community safety, while effectively ending demand for illegal sales.”