Three provincial cabinet ministers gave their support to a request by Sunshine Coast local governments for federal help to enforce local bylaws on residential properties used for medical cannabis growing, Sechelt Mayor Darnelda Siegers told Coast Reporter.
The conversation was held with Municipal Affairs Minister Josie Osborne, Finance Minister Selina Robinson and Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth during the Union of BC Municipalities Convention in mid-September.
“The province is willing to work with us to advocate to the federal government for a review of regulations that are needed to address concerns in our communities,” said Siegers.
In July, Sechelt drafted a letter on behalf of itself, Gibsons, the Sunshine Coast Regional District and the shíshálh Nation, asking the federal government for action in three areas.
Local governments want to see a review of the number of plants allowed on one site. The letter points out that licences for medical cannabis can allow for hundreds of plants to be grown and that growing for multiple licences can be done on a single property. The letter states that having large-scale operations in residential areas has a “detrimental effect on housing stock and the quality of a neighbourhood.”
The second issue raised relates to information sharing and public safety. The letter asks for changes to the current situation where local governments and the RCMP are not consulted or informed about locations approved for individuals to produce cannabis for their own medical purposes.
“Right now, we have cannabis growing operations happening in residential areas of our community, but we don’t know if they are legal or not, and they are not necessarily following municipal bylaws regarding odour, safety or building inspection,” said Siegers. “We need to be able to inspect, enforce bylaws and building codes, and apply penalties for non-compliance to ensure public safety in our neighbourhoods.”
Money to help pay for additional inspection and enforcement duties is the third area where federal assistance was requested. The mayor noted that when discussions began about cannabis legalization, there was talk about licensing revenue being shared with municipalities to cover the costs of increases in bylaw enforcement. “That has not happened,” said Siegers.
The letter asks for full transparency on how much revenue the province receives from the federal excise tax and the legal cannabis industry. It also requests that the federal government set a date by which a revenue sharing agreement with local governments is to be in place.
Siegers said that having a meeting with the three ministers in one session was a “first” and is a sign that the province is taking these local government concerns seriously. She said that the telephone meeting was one of several held during the convention where different ministry representatives were in attendance to assist with concerns that crossed ministry and jurisdictional boundaries.
