With the legalization of cannabis less than a month away, Prince George city council is trying to hash out what the rules surrounding it’s distribution and sale are going to be.
Ian Wells, city manager for planning and development, presented four recommendations to council on the subject of cannabis, one of which was pricing for business licenses in the city. In his recommendations, both cannabis retail and cannabis production facilities would cost $5,000 to license.
That number didn’t sit well with some councilors at the September 17th meeting. A few mentioned the parallels between cannabis and liquor licensing, which Wells reported was somewhere between $250 and $300 in comparison.
Councillor Brian Skakun thought the fee was “unfair”, and motioned to lower it to $1000.
“I don’t think there’s a lesser of two evils between liquor and cannabis. It’s here, how do we embrace it and how do we work with entrepreneurs?”
Councillor Albert Koehler also wasn’t a fan of the $5000 price tag, but for the opposite reason.
“We should go up, we should go double or higher and make it difficult for anyone to obtain this stuff,” said Koehler.
Council voted five to three on the amendment, lowering to $1000.
Residents will have a chance to voice their opinions at public hearing hearing on October 1st, details to come at later date.
The final reading for the bylaw will be at the Oct. 15th council meeting.
– with files from Cole Kelly, My PG Now