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North Bay City Council votes to opt-in to cannabis retail stores but it's not unanimous

'For me it wasn’t a difficult decision because cannabis is here today. The decision to have a brick and mortar store is just an extension of what the rules will be in the province of Ontario' City Councillor Mac Bain

North Bay City Council has voted to opt-in to having brick and mortar cannabis retail stores in the city effective next April, but the vote on the motion put forward by councillor Mac Bain was not unanimous.

See related: Council to vote on pot resolution Tuesday

“On October 17th people in can legally order cannabis online from a government website.It will be delivered to the home and accepted at the door with proper ID,” said Bain.

“The province has said in April 2019, communities that have previously opted-in, which we did this evening, have the opportunity to have a brick and mortar store where the only product that will be sold will be cannabis. It’s not going to be mixing in with any other products like tobacco or alcohol. It’s just legal cannabis purchased through the government approved growers and operators.”     

Councillor Mark King was the only council member to vote against opting-in. Councillor Daryl Vaillancourt was not in attendance. 

“My decision could have been temporary. When we went through the process, the fact that we’ve opted-in now, there’s no out. There’s no recourse at all. That was probably the governing factor in my thought process. If we opted-out now, we still had an option to opt-in at a later point once we fully understand just what the implications of this process are,” said King.

“And my thoughts were on cost, whether or not the opportunity would present itself for more income for the city. Really, $5,000 from the province this year and next year is not enough to make me think that works,” said King.

Councillor Tanya Vrebosch says the money will lot cover municipal costs.

“But I support Councillor Bain and I think we either do it now or we could loose our opportunity if the next council waits too long, because the deadline is very tight and we’ve been advised of that several times.”

Councillor Chris Mayne called it one of the most significant decisions made as a council.

“The biggest concern I have is the cannabis being smoked these days is much more toxic and has severe and permanent health implications for a susceptible portion of the population. So what is required to avoid that is an education piece, and the health unit will be bringing that forward in the next few months.”

Bain says the province will lay down the rules and regulations, such as determining the proximity of the stores to schools.

“At the Association of Municipalities of Ontario meeting in Ottawa and at Minister Fedeli’s briefing that he gave to regional municipalities, we were told council has the autonomy to be making the decision. It’s our choice to be making the decision,” said Bain.

“For me it wasn’t a difficult decision because cannabis is here today. The decision to have a brick and mortar store is just an extension of what the rules will be in the province of Ontario. It was an easy decision for me to make because the City of North Bay is not in a position to turn away any type of business. We need a strong business community and I’m strongly against just having one product sold online and not having a brick and mortar store.”

King doesn’t dispute the presence of cannabis in the city, but questions council’s role in regard to distribution.

“We all know cannabis is everywhere, but in thinking about it, should the municipality be involved in the distribution of drugs? I don’t think so. We have core services we should provide, we should stick to them.”

Bain suggested council opt-in now as opposed to waiting for the next council, when the government is expecting a decision by early in the new year.

“There may be change at council, and they’re not going to have the opportunity to be focusing in on one of the most important decisions we’re ever going to be making, and they’re going to be asked to make it quickly, “ said Bain.

“There is cannabis in our community today. There are other illegal drugs in our community today. We don’t get any revenue from those. The federal government has decided the whole country, in October is going to have the opportunity of purchasing and consuming cannabis. We have to get ready as a community. The province of Ontario has decided its going to have an online retail source. That’s a reality. I would like us to be making the decision now as opposed to waiting later. Those agencies, boards and commissions that may be impacted by the use of cannabis, need to know what we’re doing.”