Some citizens likely wondered what city officials were smoking when they announced it could cost more than $3.5 million to legalize cannabis in St. Albert – just for 2018. Ongoing costs for subsequent years could reach $2.2 million, a report to city council on Monday said.
The eye-popping estimates include St. Albert's expectation that it will need up to 10 new RCMP officers and up to five new municipal enforcement officers to regulate pot use in our city. The estimates in costs could rise or fall by as much as 50 per cent depending on which provincial and federal rules are in place, the city estimates say.
These figures seem both wildly speculative and excessive. To suggest that the city police force will need to grow by more than 15 per cent to respond to pot legalization seems absurd. Currently police deal with pot as an illegal substance, so there should be the reduction of costs in some areas. RCMP Inspector Pam Robinson and policing services manager Aaron Giesbrecht admit the projections are worst case scenarios.
Perhaps the high estimates are an effort to try to get some money from the federal and provincial governments to help with legalization.
In St. Albert's defence, the city is being forced to plan for legalization in a cannabis haze. The federal decree that pot will be legal by July 1 means municipalities across the country are scrambling to get ready before all the federal and provincial rules are even in place. The regulations will affect how cities go about the business of regulating and enforcing new pot laws for users and businesses, while protecting public safety.
There will also be the need for significant training of different city departments, all within a short time frame.
St. Albert is trying to do its due diligence. Late last year the Federation of Canadian Municipalities advised municipalities to prepare for the new reality even as they wait for necessary federal and provincial instructions. FCM recommended cities seek legal advice, form working groups and begin public consultation. Staff from 10 St. Albert city departments put their heads together to come up with a list of changes necessary including bylaw and policy changes, the need for training officers, and education for the public. The city's land use bylaw, community standards bylaw, business licensing bylaw and smoking bylaw all require changes to incorporate the new cannabis reality. Even so, St. Albert is now saying it might not be ready in time because there are still too many unknowns.
The race to legalize pot by July 1 is an arbitrary one set by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. It is time for him to get real and extend the deadline. It is also costing municipalities time and money from other worthwhile city projects while they are forced to put pot on the front burner.
St. Albert may be wildly off in its estimates of costs, but it is because the feds and the province are not ready. It is not reasonable to expect municipalities to compensate for poor federal planning.
