Amherstburg town council will discuss a report on allowing cannabis consumption venues and special occasion permits in Ontario.
The Ontario government announced in December 2019 that it would be moving to an open market when it came to marijuana use, but also asked municipalities what would they would like to see allowed at the local level.
According to the report going to council Monday night, Amherstburg is interested in both venue and special occasion permits on par with current rules for alcohol consumption.
Councillor Don McArthur says the most important stipulation is that the town maintains as much regulatory control as possible.
"With the provision that municipalities have the maximum amount of control when it comes to zoning, licensing powers, to ensure appropriate locations and community responsiveness," he says.
McArthur calls it a prudent and responsible approach to take, because it doesn't commit the town to anything.
"What it does is tells the province that we support cannabis consumption cafes and SOP's [special occasion permits] but we want as much municipal control as possible," he says.
He says politics is always a shifting landscape, but he expects his fellow councillors to approve the report and send it off to the province.
"We've talked about it now for two meetings, so there's been ample time to talk about it and think about it," he says. "I think it's going to go ahead and I hope it goes ahead, but you never know."
Amherstburg town council gets under way at 6 p.m. Monday.