The Town of Bonnyville has a better idea of how they’ll tackle changes to legislation due to the legalization of cannabis.
With businesses able to apply for a licence through the Alberta Liquor and Gaming Commission (ALGC) starting March. 6, council discussed the matter at length during their Tuesday, Feb. 27 meeting.
Over the next four months, council will make amendments to four bylaws, covering everything around the commercial sale and use of recreational cannabis.
“There are four specific bylaws we’ve identified, and I think every municipality has done the same. The land-use, business license, community standards, and smoking bylaws could all need adjusting,” explained CAO Mark Power.
The land-use bylaw will be the first to receive attention, as the town has already started fielding presentations by businesses looking to set up locally. Under the current ALGC rules, no establishment will be allowed to sell cannabis within 100-metres of any health facility, school, park, or playground.
Council can impose stricter or more relaxed guidelines as they see fit.
“We’ve already had a presentation on this from locals looking to open a store. We’ve got a lot of work to do before we’re in a position where we’re able to approve or deny a business,” said Mayor Gene Sobolewski.
Community standards will be the next bylaw to be reviewed. This touches on how far a person must be from a hospital or school to consume cannabis. Business licensing and smoking bylaws will be the last to be amended.
But, before the town even considers where it can be consumed, they’ll focus their efforts on coming up with a set of rules around its sale.
“We’re not dealing with where you’re allowed to smoke until we get into the actual smoking bylaw. The first thing we have to tackle is where people are going to be allowed to sell it,” expressed Power.
When legalization takes place, council will have to deal with issues they wouldn’t have considered otherwise.
“Multiple housing units will be a tricky one. I don’t think we’ve ever considered banning smoking in apartments. We have to ask the question, if we ban smoking cannabis in apartment buildings, do we ban smoking altogether?” questioned Power.
One thing residents shouldn’t expect, is for Bonnyville to ban the substance altogether. While municipalities have the ability to become ‘dry communities,’ Sobolewski doesn’t see feasibility in the option.
“The key for me is cannabis is already being sold within the community, illegally, but it’s being sold,” said Sobolewski. “If you look at dry communities, there are very few because they’re so hard to enforce. It may have passed in the 1930s or 1940s, but I don’t think it will in 2019.”
Another hurdle council faces is the prospect of constantly changing legislation as the provincial and federal governments find a working plan for legalization.
“My concern is if we draft a bylaw, something could change in six months, and then we have to bounce back and forth. We have to figure out how we deal with that,” Sobolewski said.
Before they make any decisions, council would like to gauge public opinion on the subject. They have entertained the idea of holding a cannabis legislation night to allow the public to have their say in an open forum style.
No date has been set for the information session. The town will review the option over the course of their next few meetings.
“Basically we have four major bylaws and we need to look at when we pull the trigger on making revisions,” explained Sobolewski. “The province and the feds are hopefully going to provide us with the guidance necessary. So far, what I’m hearing is conflicting opinions and regulations. I would definitely be open to holding an open house on the subject.”
