Pot in Pembina: Southern Manitoba communities want uniform approach to sale of cannabis

Community leaders in Manitoba's Pembina Valley are hoping to come up with a regional approach to the sale ofcannabis when it's made legal.

The province has left it up to individual municipalities to decide if they will participate in the sale of pot when its recreational use becomes legal something the federal government has said will happen by next July.

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Winkler Mayor Martin Harder says roughly a dozen mayors and reeves from the south-central Manitoba region will meet next Monday to try to come up with a uniform decision.

"We want to come up with a consistent plan throughout the Pembina Valley region so that we don't have community pitting against community, or different rules in different towns," he said. "We'd like to come up on the same page."

Harder, who chairs the Pembina Valley Region Mayors group, said ithas collaborated in the past to crafta uniform approach to things like school speed zones, and he's hopeful the group's memberscan find common ground on cannabis.

Province wants answer before Christmas

The province has asked municipalities to indicateby Dec. 22whetherthey plan to participate in the sale of cannabis. However, a provincial spokesperson said it's "an open and ongoing dialogue" and municipalities "can indicate a change in position on the subject at anytime."

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Due to the short timeline, the Manitoba government will also allow municipalities to hold a plebiscite to prohibit cannabis retail stores up until January 2022. A plebiscite has to be initiated by council or by a petition signed by 20 per cent of electors, a government briefing note said.

In advance of Monday's meeting, Harder has been gathering feedback from citizens, school divisions and health professionals. However, he stopped short of revealing whether he or his regional counterpartsare open to the retail sale of legal pot.

"My personal decision may be totally different than what we have to deal with as a community," he said. "We are going into the meeting to try to come up with a compromise."

Harder said they will continue to gatherfeedback from citizens by holding public meetings and panel discussions.

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In Manitoba,the Liquor and Gaming Authority soon to be theLiquor, Gaming and Cannabis Authority will regulate the supply and distribution of recreational weed. It will be available for purchase,in-store and online, from provincially approved private retailers.

The premier has also previously saidcannabis should be accessible within a 30-minute drive for about 90 per cent of the population.

If the Pembina Valley region decides to bow out of the sale of recreational marijuana, some communities would face more than an hour's drive to centres like Winnipeg.

"I heard a good comment the other day 'You only have to drive 30 minutes for cannabis but you have to drive an hour for an emergency,'" Harder said.