What Happened to Ontario’s Promised Legislation Review? by Jacquie Maynard When cannabis legislation was originally introduced in Ontario, the government committed to conducting a review of it in two years to make sure things were going well. The two-year-mark has since come and gone, and no review has been done. Now, the Ontario Chamber of Commerce (OCC) is stepping in to remind the government to fulfill its promise. “I appreciate that right now there is a lot going on with the government, but we don’t want to see this fall to the wayside either,” says Daniel Safayeni, Head of Policy at the Ontario Chamber of Commerce. “We do feel it’s important to maintain that commitment and go through that process.” Overall, the OCC wants to make sure that the review process, which was supposed to be completed on or before October 17, 2020, is open and transparent and involves consultations with the industry, but there are some specifics it would like to see as well. hundreds of millions of dollars lost to the Ontario economy each time delivery and online sales are repealed. “I think there is a very legitimate argument for economic growth, public safety, and Ontario’s economy,” he states. Make Online, Delivery, and Curb-Side Permanent Fixtures “This is something we have been beating the drum with prior to even the emergency order in April. We have been asking to reinstate that and make it permanent,” says Safayeni. He makes the argument that most retailers in Ontario are small, independent businesses on small margins already, and building an e-commerce platform and effective delivery system once, let alone twice, or however many times it may be repealed and reinstated, is not easy and certainly not cheap. Not to mention the many jobs and Fair and Competitive Market Despite private retailers being allowed to participate alongside the province’s public retailer, the OCC says that doesn’t mean the market is fair or competitive. According to the OCC, the current structure of the distribution system, with the Ontario Cannabis Store (OCS) as the exclusive wholesaler and legal online retailer, is threatening the competitive advantage of the private sector and undermining economic opportunity. 26 CANNABIS RETAILER
Cannabis Retailer January/February 2021: Page 26
