Legalization of Retail Cannabis

     Of all the challenges local governments will face in the next years, this issue may be the most complex. While medical cannabis has been legally available for awhile, the legalization of retail cannabis presents a whole new list of hurdles to navigate. At this point, local governments know little more than that on October 20th, sale of retail cannabis will be legal.

Yet to be determined will be issues related to:

1.      Land use management –

Location and scale of commercial cultivation & processing;

Location and density of retail facilities; and

personal cultivation

2.      Business regulation –

Retail and Commercial regulations and their enforcement

3.      Public consumption –

Provincial and municipal smoking guidelines

Public health and welfare

Advertising and signage

4.      The Workplace –

Safe municipal workplaces

Zero-tolerance policies

Policies and testing

Existing medical cannabis regime

Employer’s duty to accommodate

5.      Enforcement –

Building code and bylaw enforcement

Nuisance bylaws

Potential liability

Enforcement tools

     A variety of sources, including the Police Chiefs of BC and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities are suggesting, through their own analyses, that the burden on local governments, both in terms of financial and human resources, will be significant. Will property taxpayers be left with that bill, or will provincial and federal dollars be allocated for it?

     There appears to be a perception among the general public that the transition to the legalization of cannabis is straightforward; some even argue that local government should “butt out”. This will be far from straightforward or simple. To that end, the City of Abbotsford is presently polling the public to garner any advice or insights that may be helpful in this transition. Because of the position Abbotsford has taken with regard to illegal sales of cannabis, we are told that our city is in a “good position” relative to some other municipalities, to introduce legal retail of cannabis in Abbotsford on October 20^th.

As the following table illustrates, local governments' role will not be a small one.

Canada Day

Canada Day is upon us again. Together with my family, we will join local residents and celebrate by way of parade, entertainment, food, and fireworks. We repeat a similar routine each year, but still, we do not grow tired of it. Our love of this country seems to outweigh any danger of boredom due to the repetitive nature of each year’s celebrations.

I don’t think Canadians are unique in that respect, but I have on occasion sensed that others envy us a little for what we have. We have so much to be proud of, but still we tend not to appreciate it at times – we take it for granted.

One of the best antidotes to becoming complacent about this great country is international travel. As a 19-year old, I left Canada for two years to volunteer in the Congo, which entailed two months of language study in Belgium. During that time, I took advantage of some travel opportunities in Europe. On one occasion, my friend Charles and I hitch-hiked from Mons to Amsterdam and back, and my Canadian flag appeared to be the key for us. Charles, an American, without hesitation adopted Canada and displayed a second Canadian flag.

Ever since then, I, like so many other Canadians, display the flag on our luggage or back-packs whenever travelling. Just the fact that our flag elicits positive responses from foreigners is reason enough to be proud to be a Canadian. So on July 1^st, I’ll be proudly flying the flag and carrying it on my person.

Happy Canada Day!

Master Plans

     As I prepared for Monday’s Council meeting, I was confronted with hundreds of pages of reading material as it related to the final adoption of several Master Plans. I was struck by the scope of the Utilities Master Plan in particular, which is described in the summary as “…comprehensive, multi-faceted plan...”. It occurred to me that it epitomizes each of the respective Plans that staff has been bringing forward for Council adoption.

Utilities Master Plan

     The broad scope of what I had been reading and hearing from staff regarding their respective Master Plans is very impressive. I have not been part of such an ambitious undertaking during my previous three terms on Council; I think it is fair to say that this present initiative of updating the collective body of all our Master Plans is unprecedented in our city’s history. In fact, it is very likely that such an ambitious initiative is unprecedented across our country.

     The detailed analyses; the observations; the identified opportunities; and the short to long-term financial plans lay the groundwork for many successive Councils to come. Each Plan’s recommendations include 25-year capital programs that are designed to be phaseable, affordable, resilient, sustainable, incremental, flexible, & grantable. Council’s task has in many ways become easier and the chances for success in achieving our vision for our city, more achievable.

     I recognize the incredible amount of work that has gone into each component of our Plan200k. The reports presented to Council are another reminder that we have a highly skilled and professional staff who deserve our thanks.