Mayor Al McDonald says it's too early to decide if the municipality will ask the government to delay opening branches of its new cannabis retail chain in North Bay.
Several Ontario cities, including a number in the GTA have said they don't want marijuana stores in their communities.
North Bay is not among the communities that will have a pot store in the first wave of openings.
See: Ontario will sell pot in 150 LCBO run stores once feds legalize it next summer
"We are following the development of the decriminalization of cannabis closely and what it will mean for our community," McDonald told BayToday. "So far it has not received royal assent at the federal level. The Province nor the Federal government have not contacted us and have not shared what their plans are, regarding revenue sharing, safety, housing, possible outlets or distribution centres and possible increased pressure on policing costs."
McDonald says the city's legal department is researching the possible steps that the two higher levels of governments might take.
"We have not discussed this at a council level as of yet, as it is in the political process at the federal and provincial level with no laws passed. It is still too early in the process although we are watching very closely what they are doing as well as what other communities are doing. Until we have all the information, it is not prudent to make any decision without a full understanding of what is being proposed."
The province says it won't force municipalities that object to having them.
Forty outlets the province will open in July, 2018, when Ottawa legalizes marijuana and another 150 stores will open by 2020.
The province unveiled 14 municipalities will host cannabis retail outlets: Sudbury, Barrie, Brampton, Hamilton, Kingston, Kitchener, London, Mississauga, Ottawa, Sault Ste. Marie, Thunder Bay, Toronto, Vaughan and Windsor.
The stores will operate separately from the Liquor Control Board of Ontario's current outlets and the province expects all the stores to be open by 2020. This approach will ensure that there will be only one legal retail distributor for cannabis in Ontario and alcohol and cannabis are not sold alongside each other.
