One of Saskatchewan’s largest government unions said they are baffled by the decision to let the private sector handle marijuana sales in the province.
The government announced Monday that wholesaling and retailing of cannabis will be conducted by the private sector and regulated by the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority (SLGA).
The Saskatchewan Government and General Employees’ Union (SGEU) said the province could get more revenue by selling cannabis though the SLGA.
“Every other province understands that having some kind of public involvement in the pot business is a good thing for government revenues,” stated Bob Stadnichuk, chair of SGEU’s retail/regulatory bargaining committee.
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“This is money that can fund education and enforcement programs around cannabis use, in addition to core public services.”
The minister responsible for SGLA, Gene Makowsky, said on Monday the government opted to go with the private sector as it would be too costly for the government.
“The cost associated with running a public entity would be quite substantial,” Makowsky said on Monday.
“Those tens of millions of dollars that would be required upfront, I’d rather see those go to schools and highways and roads in our province.”
Stadnichuk said SLGA storefronts would raise that money.
“If the minister wants to see millions of dollars going to school, highways, and roads in our province, he should scrap his current framework and get SLGA into the retail and wholesale market,” Stadnichuk stated.
He added that the government is also ignoring the results of its own survey where 45 per cent of respondents said they favoured government run retailers.
At the time the survey was released, Attorney General Don Morgan said the government will be working under the notion private retailers have majority support.
Support for private retailers was split between small businesses (37 per cent), national corporate retailers (three per cent) and pharmacies (10 per cent).
With files from The Canadian Press
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