LaSalle opts out of cannabis retail stores
It’s going to be a long while before you see a legitimate cannabis shop in the town of LaSalle.
At a town council meeting on Tuesday night, the municipality decided to opt out of the province’s licensing of cannabis retail stores. The decision was made by a vote of 5 to 2 among town council members.
“Let’s wait until we get more information,” LaSalle Mayor Marc Bondy said Wednesday. Bondy pointed out that allowing the presence of storefront cannabis sellers is a decision that can only be made once: When a municipality opts in, the province says the municipality cannot opt out again.
“I just thought, ‘Let’s be cautious,’ ” the mayor said. “We haven’t had time to do any public consultation.”
Bondy said LaSalle council will revisit the issue one year from now. Meanwhile, the Ontario government will be granting licences for privately-owned bricks-and-mortar cannabis businesses effective the start of April.
For Coun. Mike Akpata — one of the two members who voted to opt in — it comes down to the simple fact that Canadian law on cannabis has changed, and municipalities must reflect that.
“In that meeting, I could have logged on to the Ontario government’s cannabis website, and I could have ordered as much as I wanted,” said Akpata, who was a Windsor police officer for more than 20 years. “Cannabis is available, legally and online through the government. The post office is delivering it.”
Akpata believes cannabis retail stores are the next step in eliminating the black market on marijuana — preventing criminals from taking advantage of illegal underground trade.
As an example of laws changing, Akpata recalled the existence of the Lord’s Day Act: Canadian law that didn’t allow any business transactions on Sunday.
The law was struck down in 1985 as unconstitutional. “There was a time when you couldn’t buy anything on a Sunday. Remember that stuff ? Legislation changes. Societal desires change. And people change,” Akpata said.
“Do you remember when you couldn’t get served alcohol on Sunday nights after 11:30 p.m.? The Liquor Licence Act did not allow it. So you’d leave the bar.” “Then the legislation changed, because people wanted more. The world did not fall apart. Beer moved into grocery stores. The world did not fall apart.”
All that said, Akpata noted that Tuesday night’s vote was essentially symbolic: As a community with a population under 50,000, LaSalle does not qualify for the province’s lottery on what municipalities will receive the first round of licences.
“Here’s the irony: If a cannabis store opened in LaSalle tomorrow and the people didn’t want it, it would go bankrupt and disappear anyway,” Akpata said.
With the Town of LaSalle’s decision, three Essex County municipalities have decided against cannabis stores — the other two being the Town of Tecumseh and the Town of Lakeshore.
So far, only the Town of Leamington has voted to opt in. The City of Windsor is expected to make its decision at a council meeting on Jan. 21 — the day before the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario’s deadline to opt out.
Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens has publicly stated he wants to opt out.
But LaSalle’s Mayor Bondy isn’t concerned about the Windsor-Essex region being behind the times.
“History will tell us,” Bondy said. “But no, I don’t think so.” “I agree with the points that Coun. Akpata made, in principle. I mean, sure, we can say prohibition (of alcohol) came and went, and now booze is legal, and so are cigarettes, and on and on. But at the end of the day, we’re on the ground floor with a substance.”