Clugston critical of provincial funding for cannabis legalization

By Collin Gallant on October 18, 2018.

cgallant@medicinehatnews.com @CollinGallant

No definitive numbers are known about the cost of legal marijuana to the City of Medicine Hat, or how much money a provincial grant program announced this week will provide to city hall.

Mayor Ted Clugston criticized the provincial plan to spend $11.2 million across Alberta in the “Cannabis Transition Program” open to cities and towns with more than 5,000 residents that handle their own policing costs.

After the Monday release, there are still a few details of how the money would be divided.

“We really have to figure it out, it’s just been announced, but the province is dead wrong on this,” Clugston told reporters on Monday. “It should be divvied up on a per capita basis as far as I’m concerned. We’ll see.”

Alberta Municipal Affairs Minister Shaye Anderson said Monday the province expects to post a net loss from legal cannabis through the end of 2019.

“This funding will help offset some of the costs they’re facing. I look forward to continue working with local leaders to understand the real-world effects of legalization,” Anderson said in a statement.

Mayors in Calgary and Edmonton were also critical of the amount, and the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association also said more money is required.

Local administrators don’t have an estimate for costs they’ve incurred to write local laws, or how the police budget might be affected in the future. That document is still being developed for approval in January.

Senior administrators did say that along with policing costs, planning, business licences, and community development departments have been heavily engaged in preparing for Oct. 17.

That includes the costs of obtaining public viewpoints and developing bylaws.

“Behind the scenes there’s a lot of work co-ordinating across multiple departments, researching and understanding regulatory developments at federal and provincial levels,” said corporate commissioner Brian Mastel. “(Also, we’ve) monitored positions taken by other municipalities grappling with similar questions.”

City officials have long complained they have had to react quickly to rules laid down by federal and provincial regulators.

A local $1,000 business licence fee for a cannabis retail store, approved this fall, is stated to only cover the going forward costs of inspecting businesses and issuing licences, not developing the original bylaw.

A national lobby group, the Federation of the Canadian Municipalities, stated this week that as many as 17 municipal departments see operational costs increase due to legalization.

“Local governments are on the front lines of cannabis legalization,” reads a release. “We also know that keeping Canadians safe and well-served will require a clear framework for sharing the costs that come with this new policy.”

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