Aurora residents yell 'shame' as town opts in to host pot shops

Aurora joins Stouffville in deciding to allow private retail cannabis stores to operate in town

YorkRegion.com
Jan 23, 2019
Teresa Latchford

Things got heated at Aurora town hall as council made the decision to allow retail cannabis storefronts to operate in town.

On the eve of the province’s deadline to make a decision, council chambers were packed with a mix of residents, some for and some against allowing retail stores, and the crowd spilled out into the lobby.

Nearly 30 residents were given three minutes each to tell council where they stand and whether they should choose to opt in or  out of hosting retail cannabis stores.
Edmund Yeung took to the podium armed with a petition signed by more than 1,600 residents urging council to opt out.

“Please do not use the term ‘financial benefits’ so easily,” he said.

The use of provincial funding will be restricted, he added. The initial $26,000 is less than half of a per cent of the town’s operating budget. Using “simple math,” he calculates the town will receive nothing if the cannabis excise tax is under $100 million and at $150 million, it will receive $68,000, or 0.1 per cent of the town’s entire budget. Toronto is set to get 114 times Aurora’s funding.

He doubts retail stores will be able to eliminate the black market since those under 19 can't legally buy cannabis. He also takes issue with municipalities not having the power to determine a store’s location.

“There are so many uncertainties at this point and once we opt in we are stuck with the unknown consequences and irreversibility,” he said.

But fellow resident Richard Helbig didn’t share the same opinion.

“If someone told me ingesting alcoholic beverages would put me in a false state of euphoria, I would tell them to mind their business. If someone told me I would be setting a bad example for my children, I would tell them to mind their own business,” he said. “If someone told me they had decided to sell alcoholic beverages not in Aurora and that I had to drive to some other town to get a good bottle of whiskey, I’d tell them to go to hell.”

He pointed out that the decision to legalize recreational cannabis has been made and as far as he is concerned there is no argument for not having retail stores selling a legalized and regulated product in Aurora.

Following a presentation by town staff, who made the recommendation that council opt in, Mayor Tom Mrakas took the floor.

“I recognize there are strong opinions on whether pot should be legal but our decision tonight has no bearing on whether cannabis is legal or not,” he said. “As your representative my role is to make decisions that are in the best interest of the community as a whole. Those decisions should be educated decisions based on the best information available and leave the emotions beside.”

 Currently residents can buy and use cannabis from the online store and two commercial medical producers operate in town. He said there is no evidence property values will decline if retail stores are permitted. He also claims to have not seen evidence to prove a retail outlet will increase access for youth.

He suggested municipalities should be focused on creating a task force to tackle management of enforcement issues as they relate to public health, cannabis use in public spaces, in multi-unit housing, impaired driving and safety standards related to home growing.

All enforcement and policy making comes with associated costs and if the town opts in, a portion of those costs will be covered by funding from the upper levels of government, he added.

“For those reasons, I will be opting in,” he said.

However, Coun. Harold Kim was in favour of opting out.

“Many things are permissible but not all things are beneficial,” he began. “It is now legal but do we really, as a town, want to promote it with storefronts?”

He made the point that store owners are there to make profit claiming retailers continued to sell cannabis following two recalls to avoid profit loss.

He listed the cons of opting in, including putting public health at risk and the long-term health effects still have yet to be fully studied and increasing temptations to vulnerable populations dealing with addiction to name a few. It also doesn’t fit in with Aurora’s goal to become the most active and healthy community in Canada by 2020.

Coun. Michael Thompson declared a conflict of interest at the beginning of the meeting but Coun. Sandra Humfryes, Rachel Gilliland and Wendy Gaertner announced their intention to support the option to opt in.

“No,” “shame” and “this is disgusting” were the words shouted by those in the audience when the outcome became obvious.

In a five to one vote, council supported the allowance of retail pot shops in town.
Aurora and Stouffville are the only York Region municipalities who have opted in to hosting cannabis storefronts.