Three years after cannabis stores have arrived in Ontario, Newmarket is facing questions about its decision to continue to not allow them within its borders.
The town was one of 66 in the province to opt out of retail cannabis back in 2019 by a 7-2 vote, compared to more than 340 that opted in. The town has not formally reviewed the matter since, but some Newmarket election candidates have said that should change.
But change may not be in the cards. Acclaimed Newmarket Mayor John Taylor said he stands by council’s decision to disallow the stores, and it is a decision he believes that time has proven right. He said the principle objection remains planning control and store placement being kept at the provincial level, as opposed to the municipal one.
“If we have the zoning control and the planning control, I would absolutely say let’s put it back on the council agenda," Taylor said. "There’s other communities that now have an abundance of stores and sometimes very concentrated locations. I don't think that’s in the best interest of the community.”
Newmarket made its contested 2019 decision primarily on the basis of the uncertainty of store regulation. The province now regulates and controls cannabis, with any number of stores allowed most anywhere that retail is, with a few restrictions such as a 150-metre buffer from schools. Only acclaimed Ward 3 Councillor Jane Twinney and Ward 7 Councillor Christina Bisanz voted against opting out.
But some new candidates are questioning the decision. Running in Ward 7, Nadia Hansen said she would support opting in if it came back on the council agenda. She said the town should look to its neighbours to see what has worked regarding cannabis retail.
“I’m an advocate for harm reduction,” she said. “People are going to be participating and partaking in cannabis either way …. The safest avenue for people to get their product is from regulated and licensed retailers, so we can avoid those dangerous chemicals like fentanyl that’s prevalent in street products.”
Ward 4 candidate Chris Dupee has also spoken about changing the town’s position on cannabis retail and said he has got nothing but support on the campaign trail for it. He said he would raise the issue as a councillor, if he has constituent support.
“I'm all about erasing the stigma," he said. “I’ve got a lot of friends that have cannabis prescriptions, and they’re all high-end, functioning members of the community and society.”
The Cannabis Council of Canada represents Canada’s licensed producers. President and CEO George Smitherman said it is a challenging market, with regulation making it hard to compete with the illegal product.
He said there have been a few communities where concerns have been raised about there being too many stores, but added it is something the market can manage.
“Those are market issues, and obviously, some stores will be sacrificed,” he said.
But Smitherman said retail cannabis stores are filling up some empty storefronts and those municipalities that opted out are missing out on the billions the cannabis market is contributing to the economy.
“Municipalities that opted in are serving their community. They’re helping to achieve the objectives of cannabis legalization because they’re making legal, tested products readily available,” he said, adding that he feels the opt-out community has "basically become the partner and enabler of the illicit market.”
Newmarket’s neighbours were mixed on the cannabis retail decision. While some municipalities like East Gwillimbury opted out, two York Region municipalities — Georgina and Aurora — opted in.
Aurora Mayor Tom Mrakas addressed the issue in a pre-recorded 2021 town hall, where Aurora chamber president Sandra Ferri asked him if he was concerned about the impact of the growing number of retail stores in Aurora. The town has 12 stores licensed to open, according to the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario.
“We all know there’s a stigma around cannabis, and that gives a false perception of the stores,” Mrakas said in 2021. “We have seen that the stores are operated by entrepreneurs that are following the guidelines set out by the province, and our internal teams are monitoring the applications as they come through … These legal stores offer a solid tax benefit, and we see no real community disruption."
Aurora declined to comment about cannabis stores in town specifically for this story. A spokesperson said the town does not track any numbers as stores are managed by the AGCO. The spokesperson also said, “because we do not approve the store locations, do not receive or keep record of complaints and comments, details on performance etc., we do not have a full understanding of the community sentiment.”
It is unknown whether the next term of the Newmarket council will revisit the matter, with no formal plans for it. Although Smitherman said the federal government would soon be re-examining the federal cannabis law, the province has not indicated if it will review its legislation to possibly give municipalities like Newmarket the control it wants over where stores go.
Taylor said they want to avoid “a Main Street Newmarket with 14 cannabis stores on it because that’s not in the best interests of Main Street Newmarket … If we’re going to opt into something like that, then I want to make sure that we can, as a council, manage the issue."
But Dupee said he does not understand why that is a “big deal.”
“The amount of cannabis stores in town wouldn’t exceed what our market could handle,” he said. “Even if 10 open up, Newmarket might only be able to support two or three. It’s like any other business. Of course, there’s going to be competition, and that’s a good thing.”
