Privatized pot sales could prove a scramble

Experts say the switch would hinder businesses seeking to open stores

If reports of Premier Doug Ford’s pirouette to privatesector pot sales prove true, people wishing to buy cannabis products in Ontario when the legal market opens Oct. 17 may lack one thing. Stores. Both Vice News and the Globe and Mail reported Thursday that Ford is expected to announce next week that he is scrapping plans to have the Crown-owned LCBO oversee Ontario Cannabis Store operations, instead throwing brickand-mortar retail sales over to private businesses.

While a spokesperson for the premier said the reports were not entirely accurate, no new information was available Friday.

With plans still unclear, some experts say it would be hard to pass legislation, create a regulatory and licensing framework, and vet potential retailers by mid-October.

“We still need to get exact details but ... given the tight deadline for Oct. 17 for cannabis legalization, it might be the case consumers will need to buy online until retail stores can be finalized,” said Rod Elliot, senior vice-president with the Toronto consulting firm Global Public Affairs.

Indeed, Matei Olaru, CEO of the Toronto-based Lift & Co, said Ontario cannabis shoppers won’t likely see the inside of a pot store until next year under a private-sector plan.

“I just think you won’t see private, brick and mortar until 2019,” Olaru said, citing licens- ing requirements for retailers.

That means recreational cannabis buyers will be left with the province’s online shopping option — though that format would have borne the bulk of the business across Ontario anyway, Elliot said.

Under the previous Liberal government’s plans, just four retail outlets, including one in Toronto, would have opened on legalization day, with another 36 opening across the province over the following year.

And Olaru believes the LCBObacked Ontario Cannabis Store will still run the online operations.

Some private store aspirants say the timeline would be tight to open on Oct. 17, but they likely could if things break right.

Bruce Linton, CEO of the Canopy Growth Group, a publicly traded marijuana firm, said his company has already been granted private retail licenses in Newfoundland, Manitoba and Saskatchewan and that it could almost certainly meet any requirements Ontario will put forward.

Elliot, head of his firm’s cannabis practice, said the five provinces — B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Newfoundland — that currently plan to allow private sector participation in cannabis sales are well along in their regulatory and licensing procedures that will see stores open on legalization day.

Most experts believe clearing a path for private ownership will create more outlets, greater product selection and perhaps reduced prices, depending on the eventual regulatory framework.

But opinions differ on which kind of stores cannabis buyers will likely be shopping in around the province.