Carol Anne Meehan says no to pot shops in Ottawa

By Alex Robinson

If the city is not able to secure more control over the location of pot shops in Ottawa, Carol Anne Meehan wants the city council to opt out of a provincial plan to allow private retail stores to sell recreational marijuana. 

The issue will be one of the first matters the councillor-elect for Gloucester-South Nepean and her new colleagues on city council will tackle in the new term of council.  

This summer, the provincial government announced it would let municipalities decide whether they want to opt out of its plan to license private shops to sell cannabis. Meehan will be pushing city council to vote no if the province does not relinquish control to the city over the location and number of retail stores that would open. 

“Right now the province has basically tied council's hand. We do not have any say in where the retail pot shops will be located. We have no say in how many and we have been offered a pittance to deal with the potential fall out, the potential costs of retail,” Meehan recently told 1310 NEWS' The Rick Gibbons Show. 

“…We're in a position right now to say to the province we have to negotiate with you. We're not going to roll over and just take what little bits you're offering us. We need to have more of a say.” 

Listen to the full interview:

Councillors will consider a report on the issue at a special meeting on December 13. Proponents of opting in have said barring retail shops from opening in Ottawa would benefit the black market. 

Meehan conceded that there eventually will be retail stores that sell cannabis in Ottawa at some point. But she said the city finds itself in a good negotiating position at the moment as the province is set to make millions of dollars in revenue from the shops. 

She said the city should get a larger share of those revenues considering the costs it could incur from policing. 

“We are in a position to negotiate. If we say no, we're not going to open them, then the province stands to lose millions,” she said. “And if we say yes we are going to open them, then we're stuck with the costs. That's basically it.” 

She is also pushing for strict identification rules for customers at pot shops, similar to those in place at the LCBO. 

Meehan beat incumbent councillor Michael Qaqish in a five-candidate race in September. She will be sworn in at a ceremony Monday evening along with six other new councillors.
 

Top Stories

Top Stories

Most Watched Today