TORONTO – The owner of a Burlington, Ont. restaurant facing a discrimination complaint for not allowing a medical marijuana smoker to light up outside his restaurant is caught between a "regulatory rock and a hard place," the Ontario government acknowledged Tuesday.
Ted McMeekin, minister of Government Services, said during question period that provincial laws never contemplated the scenario of somebody smoking marijuana for medical purposes on a licensed premises.
Ontario’s liquor laws prohibit controlled substances from being consumed where alcohol is served.
Joyce Savoline, PC MPP for Burlington said the case "reeks of an Abbott & Costello sideshow, Who’s On First."
Ted Kindos, owner of Gator Ted’s, said he could lose his licence to serve liquor if he allows former patron Steve Gibson to light up outside his restaurant.
Gibson said he has a licence to smoke marijuana for medical purposes and is being discriminated against because he has a disability.
The federal government’s Marijuana Medical Access Regulations do not specify where marijuana can be consumed for medical purposes.
Attempts to negotiate a resolution to the dispute fell apart last spring after Kindos refused to sign a settlement requiring, among other things, he pay Gibson $2,000 and post a sign out front alerting patrons his establishment accommodated customers with medical marijuana exemptions.
The case is set to be heard by the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal this summer.
A spokesman for the minister of government services said the province is awaiting the outcome of the tribunal.
At the same time, ministry staff are looking at the liquor licensing regulations.
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