Legalized recreational marijuana might be on the ballot in Michigan this fall.

Ontario's premier said the province is working on an 'educational process' for border cities as the federal government is expected to legalize recreational marijuana this year. 

Premier Kathleen Wynne met with Michigan Governor Rick Snyder last week to sign a memorandum of understanding related to jobs, tourism and shared resources. 

One of the items that came up — but was not part of the document — was how the two governments are handling potential problems surrounding legal marijuana. 

"Our officials are working together with border states to make sure that the rules are clear," said Wynne, after signing the memorandum in Detroit. 

Recreational cannabis could well be legalized in Canada by July 2018. And whilst Ontario passed legislation that will regulate the lawful use, how much do we really know about the potential impact this will have on workplaces?

We spoke to Peter Straszynski, Torkin Manes LLP – presenter of HRD Canada’s upcoming webinar Cannabis in the workplace - a guide for HR professionals – who gave us his take on the impending issue.

“Employers in industries which deal with safety sensitive work, for example construction where employees are working with machinery, are concerned over the legalization and what that means in terms of tolerance,” explained Straszynski.

With just seven weeks to go before the House shuts down for the summer, Team Trudeau is poised to unveil its latest proposed overhaul of Canada’s election and political financing laws.

The new bill, which could be introduced as early as this afternoon, is expected to include several key 2015 campaign commitments, including new restrictions on how much political parties can spend between — or possibly even during — elections, as well as the establishment of an independent commission to oversee leaders’ debates and, potentially, new monitoring and enforcement measures to protect the integrity of the federal election system against foreign (or domestic) hackers.

With legal pot looming, officials are working on training tools for Canada's cops.

Pop quiz: what does 30 grams of marijuana look like?

It's not an abstract question. Under the federal government's proposed cannabis legalization plan, 30 grams of dried marijuana is the maximum a person can legally possess in a public place. Carry any more and you could be subject to fines, jail time, or both.

Policing quantities is a big shift for police officers, who are used to viewing any amount of pot as a potential red flag, said Sandy Sweet of the Canadian Police Knowledge Network, an agency that provides online training courses for police officers.

Dustin and Corey Koffler, brothers and co-founders of Green Tank Technologies Corp., have been growing their business at breakneck speed over the past year – and the pace is unlikely to slow down as cannabis legalization approaches.

One year ago, Green Tank, a Toronto-based startup that designs vaporizers for cannabis-oil producers, had its first product ready, but no employees and no sales. Today, the company serves 60 clients in four countries and has hired 16 employees, most of whom work out of a converted industrial space in the city’s west end.

Further to the press releases dated February 15 and March 12, 2018, GreenTec Holdings Ltd. ("GreenTec") and Black Birch Capital Acquisition III Corp. (TSXV: BBC.H) ("Black Birch") are pleased to announce that GreenTec has completed its private placement offering of subscription receipts ("Subscription Receipts") led by PI Financial Corp. (the "Agent") for aggregate gross proceeds of $8,888,880 (the "Offering").  The Offering is being completed in connection with the proposed business combination (the "Transaction") between GreenTec and Black Birch previously announced in a press release of Black Birch dated February 6, 2018, which transaction is intended to constitute Black Birch's "Qualifying Transaction" pursuant to Policy 2.4 of the TSX Venture Exchange.

An international fertilizer business in Augusta Township is going to pot.

V6 Agronomy has developed a fertilizer kit for home-growers of marijuana to capitalize on what is expected to become a growth industry once cannabis is legalized in Canada this summer.

The husband-and-wife team of Ryan Brophy and Amy Fogo has developed a small three-stage kit designed with the home-grower in mind.

For $19.99 plus tax, they will sell three pouches of different fertilizers, measuring spoons and instructions to guide budding growers on the care and feeding of their plants. The kits will contain enough fertilizer for two marijuana plants. (Under Bill C-45, Canadians would be allowed to cultivate four marijuana plants at home for personal use.)

Three 8-week online courses now available in both English and French.

A post secondary school based in Sudbury plans to capitalize on the emerging cannabis industry, which is expected to grow significantly once the federal government legalizes marijuana later this summer.

Collège Boréal has launched three online courses in cannabis training. The courses are each eight weeks long and are available in both English and French.

"With the cannabis industry obviously in a boom, and the upcoming legislation that's around the corner, there is a very high demand for trained professionals," Julie Nadeau, director of Contract Training said.

Ottawa Public Health held the 1st of 2 information sessions Thursday night in Gloucester.

Ottawa parents are bracing for a new version of "the talk" with their children as the legalization of cannabis nears.

About 60 people — and an additional dozen officials from public health, school boards and local police — attended an information session Thursday night on how to talk to their children about cannabis.

Greely resident Keri Hatfield, who has two middle school-age children, said having a dad who was a police officer had kept her from ever considering trying cannabis.

"The fear of God was put into me not to do drugs," she said.

"To have it become a normal thing like alcohol, it worries me. So I want to be prepared to deal with this with my kids."

Are Canadian legalization laws too strict to be worth the effort?

Legalizing marijuana in Canada will benefit millions of people. First and foremost, people will no longer be incarcerated for minor possession charges. This means fewer arrest records, less government spending on prisons and less longterm impact on the careers and lives of those caught with marijuana. Legalization does, however, vary province by province, and come with a host of bureaucratic complications. Are Canadian legalization laws too strict? Here’s a closer look at the problems marijuana legislation, as it exists today, could cause.

Strict Laws Require Bigger Law Enforcement Budgets