On Tuesday, November 26, Niverville residents will undertake a plebiscite to decide whether retail cannabis sales should be allowed in the community. Voting will take place at the Town Administrative Office at 329 Bronstone Drive between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. Residents also have the option to vote in advance at the town office on Monday, November 18. The Citizen encourages everyone to vote!
When we, as citizens in support of a progressive Niverville, were approached to write this article we had to remind ourselves how and why this whole thing started.
When the federal government legalized cannabis in Canada, each province and subsequent city, town, and municipality was asked to make a decision to allow cannabis sales in their respective jurisdictions. The Province of Manitoba and Niverville both agreed to allow cannabis sales.
Subsequent to those decisions, a cannabis retailer, Canna Cabana, was selected to potentially operate in Niverville. Following due course, they selected a location that met all of the provincial and municipal requirements to operate in our community.
However, when it came time to approve their conditional use application, a group of local anti-cannabis lobbyists attended the “conditional use” hearing, turning it into a “legitimacy of cannabis” hearing.
Despite the largely one-sided lobby and a few inconsequential questions that Canna Cabana needed to take away to clarify, town council decided to proceed with their vote. Nathan Dueck forwarded a motion to accept the retail cannabis application and Chris Wiebe seconded it. However, John Funk and Kevin Stott voted against it, resulting in a tie. Mayor Myron Dyck broke the tie by voting no, and as a result the conditional use application was denied.
Council could have tabled the vote to allow Canna Cabana to go back and clarify those questions that remained outstanding, allowing council to further consider the information that had been presented by the anti-cannabis lobby so as to properly represent the best interest of the entire community, not just those who had attended in opposition.
When the details surrounding the conditional use hearing spread and local media picked up the story, town council decided to distance themselves from their original decision to allow cannabis sales. Instead they voted in favour of holding a plebiscite.
The plebiscite was motioned by John Funk and seconded by Kevin Stott. Nathan Dueck and Chris Wiebe voted against it, once again resulting in a tie. Myron Dyck voted for the plebiscite, breaking the tie.
The mayor defended his decision to allow this matter to go to a plebiscite by suggesting it is in the best interests of the community to allow the people make this decision themselves—a position that our group disagrees with. By allowing this matter to be decided via plebiscite, council has inadvertently created the very divide in our community that we are discussing here.
Our position on this matter remains the same: this is a legal business wishing to operate in our community and working with the town to meet the requirements to open for business.
This is good for our community, as it allows us to be seen as progressive and committed to economic growth. Our community has struggled for years to grow the business community and tax base and now it would appear we are doing everything we can to turn legitimate businesses away.
There has been much discussion about the economic benefits of a cannabis dispensary in Niverville. It’s important to clarify here that this is not about a new building or new property taxes, since it is most likely that a cannabis dispensary will assume tenancy of an existing building.
This is also not about the economic sustainability of a cannabis dispensary in Niverville. Business owners are responsible for analyzing and accepting the risk of opening their business. We as a community cannot make decisions to allow businesses to operate in our community based on whether we think they will be successful.
The real benefits are about the economic spinoffs. A cannabis dispensary in Niverville would serve all of southern Manitoba. When customers arrive, we can expect that they will also buy a coffee, grab some lunch, play a round of golf, get some gas, pick up groceries, renew their insurance, and maybe even drive around town and say, “Wow! This looks like a great place to live. Let’s move here.”
We wish we could just leave it there, focusing on the economics of a new legal business opening here. Unfortunately, there is a group of individuals in our community who morally disagree despite federal legalization and the existence of very stringent laws that have been put in place to monitor and regulate cannabis dispensaries.
So as a group, we have been forced to pivot and focus less on the economic benefits and almost entirely on educating the community as a whole in response to the misinformation that is currently being shared. In response to this misinformation, we have created a website, www.supportniverville.com, to educate our community.
In conclusion, the truth about cannabis is clear and the information is accessible to everyone who wishes to be informed. Whether we have a cannabis dispensary in Niverville will not stop residents from having access to legal product. Our hope is that our community will say Yes so that we can create greater access for those in Niverville and the surrounding communities and take advantage of the economic benefits.
