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Kitchener-Waterloo

Municipalities in Waterloo region confused by province's retail cannabis opt-out plan

Ontario announced that cities get to opt-out of private pot sales, but in the Region of Waterloo — who gets to decide remains unclear.

Cities are still waiting for the province's direction on whether 'lower-tier' cities get to decide

Peggy Lam · CBC News ·
Starting April 1, 2019, recreational marijuana can be sold in private pot stores, the Ontario government says. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)

Ontario recently announced that municipalities can opt out of private retail sales, but in Waterloo region, it remains unclear which jurisdiction that decision falls under — whether it's upon regional council or the three cities and four townships to separately decide for themselves. 

"I think that's a matter of active discussion and we're interested to hear from the province whether [when] they refer to municipalities, they're referring to regional scale municipalities like the Region of Waterloo, or local municipalities," said Mike Murray, the chief administrative officer at the Region of Waterloo.

"We'll just have to wait and see what kind of guidance we get from the province," said Murray. 

Cambridge mayor Doug Craig said it's "premature to give a final decision on this" and he will be having a meeting to "garner information of the public's reaction."

"I'll be talking to council, we'll be getting more information from the province in terms of how it affects municipalities," he said.

Kitchener mayor Berry Vrbanovic said he thinks Kitchener should opt in, but ultimately, the decision will be put forward to city council.

"We should have it available in the community for no other reason other than so we have the ability to have some control around where it might be sold and also have the opportunity to access the enforcement dollars that would be available," Vrbanovic said. 

The City of Waterloo also said they haven't made a decision yet. 

Waterloo mayor Dave Jaworsky said retail operations will provide jobs, but he is "concerned" about the revenues shared between the provincial and federal government. 

"I wouldn't be surprised that if you opt out of having a retail store in your community, you're probably opting out of that revenue sharing opportunity and that's keenly needed for all the initiatives that we'll have to do with bylaw and police," said Jaworsky. 

"But we'll see when the province gives us the information on what this will look like," he said. 

CBC KW requested an interview with the Ontario Ministry of Finance, who forwarded it to the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General. 

The Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General also did not provide answer on where the jurisdiction lies, but in an email statement said, "We are committed to working with municipalities to help with the cost of legalization and combat crime."

"We will be consulting with them on the development of a private retail store model, including further details on a one-time window under which they can choose to opt-out of permitting physical cannabis retail stores within their boundaries."  

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