Marijuana is legal tomorrow, but municipalities across Ontario still have a big decision to make.
When the Ford Government switched from a plan to provide pot sales through provincial stores to offering licences for private sales, it also offered local governments the option to veto these businesses in their municipalities. With the municipal election coming in a week, the province is giving Ontario’s community officials until next year to decide.
Parry Sound CAO Clayton Harris says this is vital, to give the new council time to get used to their seats before taking on such a big decision.
“The inauguration is in December; new councillors need to get up to speed on the topic before they make a final decision.”
Harris says it is positive that the province has put the decision on where these retail stores open in the hands of the local governments.
“As a CAO I think that giving municipalities the authority to deal with these types of issues as the local municipality sees fit is preferable,” says Harris. “As municipalities, we have zoning bylaws and (decide) where we want certain types of retail outlets to locate. We want to make sure that we as the municipality have the authority to determine where they’re located.”
But, whether or not there are stores selling pot in Parry Sound, there will still be product available for locals to buy online, which means usage laws will need to be enforced. Harris says the current legislation seems to point to the OPP as the main authority on these matters.
“That’s a police matter and the policing in the town of Parry Sound is done by the OPP,” says Harris. “Not to say that something couldn’t come up that somebody might call a bylaw officer, but it’s really a police matter.”
Harris says for now the town will be focusing on enforcing its own rules on staff use of marijuana.
“We’ve got two policies we’ll be looking to, alcohol and drug use policy and the other is our smoking policy,” says Harris. “They give the authority to supervisors if they identify somebody that’s under the influence, and the supervisor from a safety point of view doesn’t think that they’re able to operate equipment or really do their job in a safe manner.”
He says just as the municipality doesn’t have breathalyzers to test employees for suspected intoxication, they won’t have testing methods for marijuana impairment.
“You can pull somebody aside and you’ve got the authority under the policy to work with them,” says Harris. “If you feel they’re a threat, the policy gives the supervisor certain authority.”
Harris says public safety is top of mind when it comes to making sure employees are following impairment rules.
Overall, Harris says municipalities are still left with many questions as Parry Sounders begin legally purchasing weed.
“It’s a little harder to identify usage or impairment and I think police are finding the same thing. We’re working with colleagues in other municipalities and our various associations and it’s going to evolve and we will probably be amending our policies.”
He says, as always, there will be room for improvement as they learn more.