With the federal government’s decision to legalize marijuana, there are concerns that municipalities do not have bylaws in place to deal with the issue.
That was the gist of the message delivered to council by members of the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties (AAMD&C) during the Sept. 19 County of Barrhead meeting.
AAMD&C president Kemmere said while medical marijuana legislation has been in place for a few years already, municipalities need to prepare for recreational usage and control.
“I was at an FCM board meeting last week and they are going to work with all of the provincial associations over the next little while to put together a bit of a guide so that municipalities are prepared, especially with respect to land-use bylaws,” he said, noting he believed grow-ops should be located in business parks or industrial sections.
“All I’m saying is make sure if you feel it necessary to control it with your land-use bylaws that you don’t wait. Deal with it as soon as the elections are over, because this is an issue all across Canada municipally.”
Kemmere explained people are asking what can be done with respect to employer-employee enforcement and other issues.
“How are we going to control the grow-ops in our communities and who is going to enforce our decisions? Some of these facilities, which operate for more than a year, they change the structure characteristics of the buildings that house them due to humidity and what do you do with the building afterwards?
“My position is not whether it should be recreational or legal, but rather, let’s make sure we’re as prepared as possible because this is federal legislation and we can’t stop it,” he said.
One aspect Kemmere believes needs stronger advocacy over is possession.
“It is illegal to buy it if you’re under 18, but presently, under federal legislation, it is legal to carry it if you are 12. That’s only one of the surprises you’ll find when you start digging into this and the powers above us need to take that into consideration but they aren’t.”
Because marijuana is transitioning from illegal to legal, Kemmere said it is no longer a criminal activity and removes the RCMP.
“It will come down to local police or bylaw enforcement and that’s what we see coming. Whether you believe in legalization or not, this is the reality that we need to face and be prepared for,” he added.
On a question from Coun. Darrell Troock regarding whether municipalities have the authority to ban the substance outright through a bylaw, Kemmere said no.
“I think, because it falls under federal jurisdiction, municipalities need to wrap rules around it to contain it but you can’t stop it from coming in,” he said.
“We’ve sent three letters to the province already to get a handle on this, but because of the Municipal Government Act review, we haven’t gotten enough attention on the subject.”
Kennmore said other provinces have gone ahead and made new land-use designations to reflect the pending legalization.
“All we’re asking is for our province to do the same,” he added.
Kemmere said credit was due to the provincial government for the work that has already been done.
“Minister [Kathleen] Ganley called both associations, ours and the AUMA, in on this eight months ago because even they can see the train that is coming and they [province] are engaging with us to try and come up with an appropriate response to legalization,” he said.
