Several provinces are plowing full-steam ahead with plans to ask the public how they should manage the introduction of legal recreational pot in Canada. But Ontario, it seems, isn’t one of them.
Or, if there are plans, the province’s “Legalization of Cannabis Secretariat” is not ready to share them yet. Secretariat officials have been holding private meetings and promise to “engage with the public” later.
The lack of information is surprising, says Jeffrey Lizotte, the CEO of NextWave Brands, a cannabis lobbying and consulting firm.
Ontario is the country’s most populous province, and the epicentre of the legal cannabis industry, he notes. More than half of the Health Canada licensed grow-ops that sell to medical patients are in Ontario, and those facilities are expanding to supply recreational pot users, too.
“Ontario should be the leader,” Lizotte says.
The federal government aims to make dried pot and cannabis oil legal by July 1, 2018, and has unveiled its legislation to that effect, but many key details have been left to the provinces.
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Alberta, Quebec, Newfoundland, New Brunswick and the Northwest Territories have planned or begun consultations. Alberta has encouraged citizens to start discussion groups to debate questions under provincial control, such as: Where should marijuana be sold? Should the province raise the legal age for purchasing pot above the federal minimum of 18? Should people be allowed to use cannabis in public? Should the province create new impaired driving laws? How should cannabis be treated in the workplace?
In New Brunswick, where the government considers the cannabis industry a pillar of economic growth, a legislative committee will hold public hearings this summer. Quebec plans a summit of experts in June, followed by regional consultations and draft legislation in the fall.
In Ontario, the Cannabis Secretariat has been holding private meetings.
“Ontario is engaging with health, public safety, municipal and indigenous stakeholders and will continue to do so over the summer months as we develop our regulatory framework,” said a statement from the Ministry of the Attorney General, which houses the Secretariat. Besides the “proactive stakeholder outreach,” the statement said, “government officials are attending relevant conferences, meeting with academics and responding to impacted groups who wish to provide input.”
There was no reply to a request for details about which “stakeholders” and “impacted groups” have been part of the discussion.
The statement also said that “Ontario is also working closely with the other provinces and territories, and the federal government to share best practices and information.”
As for how the public can get involved in the cannabis debate, that’s not known. The Secretariat will “engage with the public over the coming months,” said the statement. Asked for more details, officials provided the same statement again.
The public silence on the issue may be because the province is waiting until the federal cannabis legislation is passed, says cannabis lobbyist Lizotte.
But there are also political considerations, says Lizotte, who worked at Queen’s Park for Conservative politicians before jumping into the cannabis consulting business.
A provincial election is scheduled for June 7, 2018. That’s just a few weeks before the target date for the brave new world of legal pot. Will Ontario try to keep the issue low-key because politicians are disinclined to talk about pot?
During the election in B.C. last month, cannabis was barely mentioned by politicians, even though the province has a massive underground industry.
“We can’t let that happen in Ontario,” says Lizotte, adding activists will try to make marijuana legalization part of the Ontario election debate.
Even people who don’t use pot will be touched by the cultural, political and economic changes that come with the end of nearly a century of prohibition. Lizotte emphasizes the positives, such as economic growth fuelled by the cannabis industry and an end to the government expense and personal hardship caused by criminal charges for possessing small amounts of marijuana. But there are huge challenges, too, from trying to prevent increased consumption by young people to keeping stoned drivers off the roads.
The topic may not be a winner with voters.
A recent opinion poll suggests that Canadians are becoming wary about recreational pot and the ability of governments to manage it. The cross-Canada survey by the consulting firm Hill & Knowlton Strategies found that public opinion has shifted.
Last year, “people were excited” about legalization, and polls consistently found that 55 per cent to 65 per cent of Canadian approved of the idea, says the Hill & Knowlton report.
The firm’s survey last month found a “more guarded and uneasy public.” Support for legalization had dropped to 43 per cent. A majority of respondents — 57 per cent — said they were concerned about how their provincial government “is going to roll out marijuana legislation,” compared to 12 per cent who were not concerned, and 28 per cent who were neutral on the question. Only 26 per cent of respondents agreed the federal government was “doing a good job of handling the marijuana issue,” while 36 per cent disagreed with the statement and 24 per cent were neutral.
Ottawa lawyer Trina Fraser advises companies on obtaining licences to grow medical marijuana. She said, ‘Certain provinces have their act together more than others.’ WAYNE CUDDINGTON / OTTAWA CITIZEN
The political landscape varies greatly by province, says Ottawa business lawyer Trina Fraser, who advises companies on obtaining licences to grow medical marijuana.
“Certain provinces have their act together more than others. Certain provinces are more excited than others. Some view it as economic opportunity, some view it as something that is being imposed on them against their will. I think there is a different political appetite across the country toward embracing it and dealing with it.”
Ontario may not be saying much publicly, but work is going on behind the scenes, says Omar Khan, a vice-president at Hill & Knowlton who advises clients in the cannabis industry. He suspects the Ontario Cannabis Secretariat is “mapping out the landscape” and coming up with options for cabinet. “They’ve been thinking about this since the Trudeau government was elected,” says Khan, who until last fall worked as chief of staff to Ontario’s health minister.
On the key question of where cannabis will be sold, three options are on the table, says Khan: privately operated stores; government-run outlets similar to the LCBO; or some hybrid of the two.
It’s highly unlikely Ontario will allow alcohol and marijuana to be sold in the same place, says Khan, an assessment that is widely shared in the industry. “It’s unlikely you’ll be able to walk into an LCBO and buy marijuana.”
Co-locations should be avoided, according to the task force of experts whose report the federal government has used as a blueprint for legalization. Co-locations could promote cannabis to people who wouldn’t otherwise buy it or encourage people to use both substances simultaneously. And some cannabis users don’t want to be around alcohol.
The statement from the Cannabis Secretariat says “all policy options remain on the table.”
Provinces can also chose to toughen several aspects of the federal law by lowering the possession limit of 30 grams of pot or the home-grow limit of four plants per household.
jmiller@postmedia.com