The New Brunswick government must really love spending money, and thanks to Canadaās equalization scheme, and debts left to future generations, local taxpayers never have to bear the true costs of their governmentās boondoggles.
The provincial government recently established a working group to study cannabis legalization, citing issues such as āenforcement, regulation, taxation and distribution.ā
Led by bureaucrats from the Department of Public Safety and NB Liquor, the group also includes the departments of Health, Social Development, Agriculture, Aquaculture and Fisheries, Finance, as well as the Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health and Opportunities.
What a glorious future weāre building together, comrades!
Of course, thereās no input from any actual New Brunswick growers or the few dispensaries in the province. Instead, theyāve asked growers and retailers from Colorado for their input, which I guess is better than nothing.
But, Oregonās executive director of the state liquor board is also being consulted, as well as the head of the RCMPās āmarijuana enforcement team.ā
The executive director of the LP-dominated National Medical Marijuana Association (CNMMA), who is also a member of the parliamentary advisory committee chaired by Bill Blair, is also involved.
Obviously, New Brunswickās initiative is just about the āeconomic and tax benefitsā that will help cover the costs of state-run health care, education, social services and infrastructure.
But it gets worse (as if CNMMAās close relationship with Bill Blair didnāt sound bad enough), the New Brunswick government is giving licensed producer OrganiGram up to $990,000.
Given through payroll rebates, the funding will be distributed over three years and is conditional based on the company doubling its workforce to 86 people.
CEO Denis Arsenault is adamant that the LP industry, āhas the potential to be a once in a generation opportunity for growth and economic development as we move towards a recreational marketplace,ā forgetting that he just took a $990,000 bailout.
The company also has secured $5 million in credit to āaccelerateā its growth strategy.
Now, to be fair, this isnāt the only company New Brunswick is funding through its āOpportunities NB Inc.ā scam, but it is the only licensed producer in Atlantic Canada.
If you canāt make money with a near monopoly on the east coast, I donāt think a government handout is going to help.
Besides, governments cannot invest. An entrepreneur reduces consumption and risks his or her saved funds for an investment in the anticipation of profit.
Government agents, on the other hand, merely tax and spend more than they otherwise would have, and on capital goods instead of consumption goods, and this is supposed to constitute an investment.
What is seen is OrganiGramās $990,000 and the 89 jobs that will come out of that spending program.
Whatās not seen is the wealth creation that would have happened if the government hadnāt been taxing and destroying opportunities for entrepreneurs who donāt need government handouts.
You canāt create wealth by taxing people and spending money on companies that canāt keep their head above water.
The only thing āOpportunities NB Inc.ā does is disrupt the market, giving bureaucrats and businesses more influence over economic decisions than the buying power of the sovereign consumer.
Coupled with New Brunswickās legalization working group, the province has set itself up as the poster child for how not to go about legalization.