Green light for cannabis stores in Port Colborne
Council votes 6-2 in favour of opting into provincial marijuana program
Entrepreneurial green thumbs will be able to open a cannabis store in Port Colborne, after councillors voted 6-2 in favour of the opt into the provincial cannabis program.
Legal pot is already being sold to Port Colborne residents through the province’s online store, but opening a physical store within city limits is now also on the table.
By taking the opt-in, council secured an initial payment of $13,000 and set itself up to score additional cannabis sale profits, which the provincial government says it will be sharing with municipalities, but, only those which opt in to allowing retail cannabis stores to set up shop within their borders.
Even with the opt-in, pot shops are unlikely to start springing up across Port Colborne any time soon, as provincewide retail store licences have been limited to just 25.
The first 25 licences will go only to cities with a population of at least 50,000, which disqualifies Port Colborne from the first round. With a cut of the profit, but no actual possibility of having to deal with a real cannabis store in the city, many councillors saw it as a win-win.
“So, there’s no licence, and there’s no applications in front of us to actually build one of these, but we still get the money,” said Ward 3 Coun. Frank Danch. “That’s good money for the taxpayers.”
How much of those profits will be shared with Port Colborne is not known; as noted in a staff report about the issue, how much profit is being generated by the Ontario Cannabis Store is unknown, and the exact revenue sharing model is still in flux. But as many councillors noted, some money is better than no money.
“I think we’re about two years away from even seeing a (cannabis) store here anyway,” said Ward 3 Coun. Gary Bruno, who also claimed to have spoken to an “undercover detective” who advised him to take the opt-in.
The two lone dissenting votes came from Ward 1 Coun. Donna Kalailieff and Ward 4 Coun. Harry Wells.
“I’m not sure we have all the accurate information we need to make a decision,” said Kalailieff, who favoured taking the opt-out in the short term and assessing the situation down the line once other municipalities have dealt with the issue. The opt-out clause offered by the province is singleuse, meaning the city could have taken the opt-out before the Jan. 22 deadline, and still been allowed to opt in later, but because Port Colborne has already taken the opt-in, it can never opt out again.
“This decision is going to be with us forever,” said Kalailieff. “We should sit back for now.”
Ward 2 Coun. Eric Beauregard, the youngest member of council, was the most ardent supporter of taking the opt-in.
“This legislation has been created with the intent to combat the black market, which does exist in Port Colborne,” said Beauregard. “This is going to be sold online, no matter what decision we make, so it’s in the best interest of Port Colborne and the taxpayers to benefit from this, and the only way to do that is by opting in today.”