Which GTA cities voted to opt-in to allow pot stores? Which ones opted out?

YorkRegion.com
Jan 24, 2019
Patrick Ho

Brampton council voted to opt-in to allow private recreational cannabis retail stores within city limits at a special council meeting Monday.

Brampton was one of the last GTA municipalities to make a decision ahead of the provincial government’s Tuesday midnight deadline to opt-out.

Municipalities can opt-in down the road, but once they’re in, they give up their right to opt-out again.

As of Tuesday morning, 248 municipalities across the province were listed on the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario as opting in, while 71 have opted out, and the rest were still listed as unknown. Those that do not notify the AGCO of their preference by the deadline will by default be considered to have opted in.

The Ford government announced a phased approach to licensing --there was a lottery for 25 initial retail cannabis licences in Ontario earlier in January. Of the 25 winning application spots, five are in Toronto and six in the rest of the GTA.

The purchase and use of recreational marijuana has been legal in Canada since Oct. 17.

Toronto council voted 20-4 on Dec. 13 to opt-in, and allow privately owned, provincially regulated pot shops. A quick look at what the other GTA municipalities decided:
PEEL REGION
Brampton: Some of the concern among councillors allowing private recreational cannabis retail stores stemmed from the federal and provincial governments not fully funding expected policing and health-care costs.

But according to Mayor Patrick Brown, if the city had opted out it will receive very little funding to offset those costs at all.

“I want to praise the Brampton city council for taking the time to do their due diligence,” Brown told reporters ahead of the meeting Monday where council voted 8-3 in favour to opt-in. “But when I look at the overall picture, 15 per cent of policing costs is still something. Fifteen per cent of policing costs is better than nothing. Right now, if we opt-in there is a potential for additional funding. If we opt-out, we get $2,500.”

Caledon: Council was unanimous in its vote Monday to opt-out, despite a survey showing residents were slightly in favour. Ward 1 Regional Councillor Ian Sinclair said he voted against opting in because of the privatization of the outlets the Ford government decided to support. “I wouldn’t have minded the LCBO store as a front,”

Sinclair said. “They have experienced staff and a set of rules that are already proven.

But we don’t know what’s going on in individual retail stores.”

Mississauga: City council voted 10-2 in December to opt-out. Some councillors felt the municipality was being rushed into making a decision without any control or planning. “I don’t want Mississauga to be a guinea pig,” Councillor Dipika Damerla said. “I think we’re better off taking a prudent approach.”

HALTON REGION

Burlington: Council voted on Jan. 14 to opt-in. Mayor Marianne Meed Ward, who put forward the motion, said the city’s public consultation showed residents support retail cannabis, and there are many more citizens who voiced their support to her but are too nervous to put their names on the record.

Halton Hills: Council voted 8-3 to opt-in on Monday.

Milton: Council voted 6-2 in December to opt-out. Councillors hedged their position by directing staff to report back to council to reconsider opting out once more information on the issue becomes available, but no later than December 2019.

Oakville: Council voted 14-1 on Jan. 14 to opt-out. The reasons councillors provided ranged from health concerns about cannabis to issues with the lack of control the municipality would have with regard to these stores.

DURHAM REGION

Ajax: Council voted 7-0 on Jan. 14 to opt-in. Despite the vote, Mayor Shaun Collier told council, “The odds we are getting any location is very, very slim.”

Brock: Council voted to opt-in.

Clarington: Council voted 4-3 in January to opt-in. “Cannabis is a huge industry that will create jobs and help boost our economy,” Mayor Adrian Foster said in a statement.

Oshawa: Council voted 7-4 to opt-in on Jan. 17. Councillors heard from Aaron Switzer of the Ontario Retail Cannabis Accessory Coalition who estimated there was the potential for $6.3 million in cannabis sales annually in the city and said that was a “hyper-conservative estimate.”

Pickering: Council voted 5-2 in December to opt-out.

Scugog: City council voted 5-0 to opt-in on Monday.
Uxbridge: Council voted 5-2 to opt-in on Monday.

Whitby: Council voted 6-3 to opt-out Monday.

YORK REGION

Aurora: Council voted to opt-in on Monday.

East Gwillimbury: Council voted to opt-out on Jan. 8. “We should not be part of the first wave,” said Ward 1 Councillor Loralea Carruthers, who supported the move to opt-out. “If all goes well, we may want to be part of the second wave. If all doesn’t go well, we may not want to. Not that we’re closing the door entirely.”

Georgina: Council voted to opt-out on Jan. 16. Key among a number of reasons raised by those who voted to opt out included the fact the municipality couldn’t back out from its decision. “Once you opt-in, you can’t opt back out,” Mayor Margaret Quirk said. “There’s no going back and that concerns me.”

King: Council voted to opt-out in December.

Markham: Council voted 12-1 to opt-out in December. “We still have a lot of unanswered questions about community safety, about the impact to families and children,” Mayor Frank Scarpitti said. “This vote by Markham council reflects the concerns we have heard throughout the community. We have taken this position with the previous government and we applaud the provincial government for giving us the choice to opt-out.”

Newmarket: Council voted 7-2 to opt-out on Jan. 15. Mayor John Taylor said the town would review and revisit the decision in a year’s time. “By then, we hope more information will be available and we are able to learn from the experiences of the municipalities that have opted in,” Taylor said in a news release.
Richmond Hill: Council voted unanimously to opt-out in December. “It’s our job to do what we think is best for our community,” Mayor Dave Barrow said. “Much of what we have heard from our citizens says that they would not welcome cannabis retail outlets in Richmond Hill.”

Vaughan: Council voted to opt-out Monday.

Whitchurch-Stouffville: Council voted to opt-in on Jan. 15, the first York municipality to do so. “Cannabis is legal and it’s not going away,” Councillor Rick Upton said. “Today, cannabis is very available anywhere, anytime you want it on the black market. This is one of my major concerns, on the black market, you don’t know what is in it, what it’s laced with.”