INNISFAIL – Administration gave town council its first briefing last week on the many issues the municipality will have to consider as Innisfailians prepare for the upcoming legalization of cannabis.
The federal government has set July as the deadline, with sales of cannabis being restricted to citizens 18 and older.
However, negotiations between the federal government and all provinces and territories are still ongoing to hash out many details, including many that will impact all municipalities.
While the Alberta government has said it will not establish a hard limit on the number of licences that will be issued by Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission to operate retail stores, there has been no direction yet on how many licences will be issued by the July deadline, nor the process store owners must go through to obtain a licence. For at least the short-term, the province will be handling online sales.
In the meantime, administration presented town council with a report from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) on the cannabis legalization issue.
"Local governments are on the front lines of implementing, administering and enforcing new cannabis rules, with new cost burdens for our police and up to 17 municipal departments,” said FCM president Jenny Gerbasi in a letter authored in late 2017 that was part of the council package. She added FCM has recommended reserving one-third of federal cannabis excise tax revenues as a "fair and achievable tool” to support municipalities.
Todd Becker, the town’s chief administrative officer (CAO), told council there are still many jurisdictional and legal issues to resolve for municipal governments, such as what bylaws and provincial legislation will have to be redrafted or created to govern cannabis consumption in public spaces. He added discussions would have to take place with the RCMP and the fire department when dealing with enforcement.
"It will be a big group around the table,” said Becker. He added the redrafting of municipal bylaws will have to meet the expectations of both senior levels of governments, and most importantly community citizens who may want to be engaged in the overall discussion.
"I have my own perspective on that engagement, especially with a new scope of a bylaw as relevant as cannabis consumption,” added the CAO. "Council may want to consider having a form of engagement with the community for what they are expecting with this new means of recreational consumption. That is a good question for council. To me that is a big change. It would be a good opportunity to engage the public on their feedback.”
Mayor Jim Romane said he will be attending a Calgary seminar next month that will include discussions with legal experts and other municipalities that will hopefully lead to the best collective approach to deal with the cannabis issue.
"Where do you start? I know the first step for me is to sit down with the RCMP and others impacted by it and get a game plan, but even the RCMP are sitting and waiting for direction too,” he said.
Romane said a big challenge for the community is determining where cannabis can be consumed, and the limitations the town will put in place for that consumption.
"I think it will have to be consistent across the province,” he said. "Hopefully everybody can agree on a way to deal with the consumption of it, of where and how, and what kind of controls we can put on. That will be a big one.”
However, he conceded different communities across the province will have different views on the issue but emphasized there has to be "some” consistency.
"People can’t plead ignorance every time they light up and say, ‘Oh, I know in Carstairs I can do that,’” said Romane. "It is a whole can of worms. There is a lot to be ironed out I think. It is going to take some focus and everybody is going to have to be on the ball here for the next four or five months.”
Town staff will now collect as much information as possible on the cannabis issue and create a draft action plan for council to consider. Becker said council would hopefully receive that in early February.
Mayor Jim Romane
"Where do you start? I know the first step for me is to sit down with the RCMP and others impacted by it and get a game plan, but even the RCMP are sitting and waiting for direction too."
