The municipality of Vancouver is acting outside its jurisdiction by regulating cannabis dispensaries. Even their own statements aren’t consistent, claiming to only regulate “land-use” but then imposing a ban on edibles and establishing rules for business owners that go beyond zoning requirements.
While some are of the opinion that dialogue and communication with the local government can result in a free and fair market, there is little evidence to back this claim.
Wealthy people donate to Vancouver‘s governing “Vision” party and they expect the results that large donations imply.
In 2014, Vision took in over $1.4 million from various corporations.
One of the unions representing Vancouver city workers gave $102,000 to Vision during the last election.
As well, Vancouver is essentially the unofficial city-state of the Chinese Communist Party.
66 per cent of Westside homes were sold to Chinese buyers. Chinese investors also spend millions on Vancouver’s “clean tech” industry. Mayor Gregor Robertson is dating a Chinese pop star for crying out loud.
City plans are often contracted out to planning firms that are staffed by college graduates with no real-world experience in business.
The unpopular $300 million plan to demolish Vancouver’s viaducts is a prime example of this dishonesty.
The city only cares about what it can do with your money without your consent, and what will advance the interests of the rich and politically well-connected.
The city can forcibly extract wealth from the value of your private property and they will never go bankrupt. All they have to do is convince a sleepy majority that their “Vision” is your vision once every four years.
And now we’re supposed to ignore this blatant corruption in the name of… what? Having the cannabis culture get “recognized” by having the city extort money from some business owners while coercively shutting down others?
The issue should be ending government restrictions on other businesses so the rest of Vancouver’s economy can be as prosperous and grassroots as the cannabis industry.
The city’s attempt to shut down and restrict cannabis dispensaries will negatively affect the BC Bud economy while playing into the hands of the licensed producers.
Vancouver should take the advice of two Victoria councillors that are asking their city to postpone municipal regulation until the federal government reveals its legalization scheme.
Constitutionally, municipalities in Canada have little power. They are nothing more than glorified custodians and to go outside these powers – such as regulating cannabis dispensaries – could be considered ultra vires.
If this were just another case of city corruption, it’d be really annoying.
But Vancouver is threatening to put a large, irreversible dent in the BC Bud economy under the guise that declustering cannabis dispensaries and keeping them away from children constitute “best practice.”
Hopefully the cannabis culture sees through this charade before it’s too late.