Richmond Hill new council says no to cannabis retail outlets

Council passed the resolution unanimously at the first council meeting of the new term

Yorkregion.com
December 20, 2018
Sheila Wang

Richmond Hill council voted on Dec. 17 to opt out of cannabis retail stores within its municipal boundaries.

Council passed the resolution unanimously at the first council meeting of the new council, in the absence of two councillors, Castro Liu and Karen Cilevitz.

“It’s our job to do what we think is best for our community,” said Mayor Dave Barrow. “Much of what we have heard from our citizens says that they would not welcome cannabis retail outlets in Richmond Hill.”

The previous council has stated its intention to opt out of hosting cannabis retail outlets when Ontario announced in August that it would sell recreational cannabis online when pot is legalized in October, with private retail stores to follow next year.

Municipalities are allowed to opt out of hosting cannabis retail stores by Jan. 22, 2019.

With the deadline fast approaching, the new council voted to make it official and directed staff to send a copy of the resolution to the province.

“Just in case anyone has concerns about the amount of money that we’re forgoing in doing this, it is a very small amount to be given up,” said regional Coun. Joe DiPaola, who also cited a York Regional Police study on the additional cost of having cannabis private stores within the town’s boundaries.

The province is providing municipalities with a total of $40 million over two years to help with the implementation costs of recreational cannabis legalization, through the Ontario Cannabis Legalization Implementation Fund, according to the Ontario Ministry of Finance.

The fund is allocated in two phases.

The province is providing $15 million to all municipalities on a per-household basis before the Jan. 22 deadline. Each municipality will receive at least $5,000.

After the deadline, an additional $15 million will be provided to the opted-in municipalities on a per-household basis, at least $5,000 each to support initial costs of hosting retail storefronts. The opted-out municipality will receive only a second $5,000 each.

The province will set aside an additional $10 million as a contingency fund to deal with any “unforeseen circumstances” related to marijuana legalization that municipalities might encounter.

Richmond Hill passed a cannabis bylaw in October that does not permit smoking or vaporizing cannabis in all public places.

Public places include any place to which the public has access as of right or invitation, express or implied, regardless of whether it is owned by a public or private entity and any motor vehicle located in a public place or in any place open to public view, according to the bylaw.

Medical cannabis users will be exempt.

At the same time, the Richmond Hill Employee Code of Conduct was updated, adding cannabis as one of the substances that must not impair an employee at work.

Recreational cannabis was legalized on Oct. 17 across Canada when sales of cannabis became available online. The province is moving forward with a private retail model for cannabis that is slated to launch by April 1, 2019.