Original pot zoning bylaw fails, council to revisit issue in June.

With federal marijuana legalization looming on the horizon, Saskatoon City Council has voted against a zoning bylaw that would have set the rules around where marijuana vendors could place their shops.

The initial proposal stated that there would have to be a 160-metre separation distance between dispensaries and schools, parks, libraries and community centres. Stores in the Broadway area would receive a 60-metre buffer as an exemption.

However, a majority of councillors balked at the separation limit and voted against the bylaw.

Buffer zones around youth oriented facilities have been given initial approval as Moose Jaw City Council prepares for the eventual legalization of cannabis in Canada.

No cannabis shop will be allowed within 166m of any school and must stay at least 83m away from parks, daycares, the library or public recreation facilities but there is a small exemption for around Crescent Park where the buffer would be 60m in order to allow a portion of Main Street to be potentially used for a shop.

"We looked at the sensitive types of uses like schools, daycares, parks and libraries, areas where youth are congregating," explained Director of Planning Michelle Sanson. "We want to make sure that we are putting in some separation distances to accommodate those types of places."

City planners in Prince Albert say it is “crunch time” for local legislation as the legalization of cannabis in Canada grinds closer.

The city's next steps were rolled out in front of city’s council's executive committee Monday night. Craig Guidinger, director of planning and development, said legalization will use a top-down approach largely dictated by the federal and provincial governments, but there are still a few items municipalities will have the ability to tweak. Guidinger said city planners are still conducting research and reviewing best practices using information from the provincial cannabis survey to prepare draft regulations, but nothing has yet been set in stone.

Two pot companies are officially eyeing up Fort Saskatchewan once marijuana becomes legal in Canada, according to the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission website.

Namaste is looking to establish themselves in the downtown core along 99th Avenue and Canna Cabana is listed along Town Crest Road in Town Crest Centre. Having the official application in front of the AGLC means these two companies are serious since it requires more than $4,000 for the licence fee, application fee and background check deposit.

These two recreational pot companies could be just the tip of an iceberg for local interest.

Fire & Flower, a corporate retail cannabis store, announces that Tim Reid has been appointed as the Chair of the Saskatchewan Advisory Board.

In this role, Mr. Reid will assist Fire & Flower's board and executive management in launching recreational cannabis retail locations in the Saskatchewan market, once permitted.

Mr. Reid currently serves as the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Regina Exhibition Association. Prior to this appointment, Mr. Reid was the President and Chief Executive Officer of Northlands and the Chief Executive Officer of the Regional Recreation Corporation of Wood Buffalo in Fort McMurray. In 2013, Alberta Venture magazine named Mr. Reid one of the province's 50 most influential people.

City eyes one-block gap between cannabis dispensaries and schools — except downtown.

A Regina city councillor says it's a "mistake" to exclude the downtown core from proposed rules on buffer zones for cannabis dispensaries.  

"We have as much a need to protect children in the downtown area as we do in any other area of the city," Ward 2 Coun. Bob Hawkins said.

A new report headed to this week's planning commission meeting proposes that pot shops not be allowed to operate in Regina within a block of schools, day cares and parks — unless those places are located downtown.

The Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority has allotted six permits for retail cannabis permits to open up in the city. 

Lawyer Amy Groothuis says most employers should have an impairment policy before September.

With cannabis expected to be legalized in July, some businesses are worried about the impact it might have on safety-sensitive industries like oil and mining. But Lawyer Amy Groothuis says even offices and retail stores should be concerned with updating workplace policy according to legislation.

Groothuis spoke at Innovation Place in Regina on Wednesday about how the effects of legal cannabis will be felt across the country — especially among employers.

The Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority is now accepting applications for wholesale cannabis permits and licensed producers. There is no limit in the province on the number of wholesale permits, but those permittees can only sell to retailers and not to the general public.

Wholesale permit fees run $5,000, including a $2,000 non-refundable application fee and a $3,000 annual fee. The registration fee for federally-licensed producers is $2,000, including a $500 non-refundable application fee and a $1,500 annual permit fee.

With the legalization of recreational marijuana use on the horizon, many are wondering what the impacts will be on municipalities. To that end, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities recently released a set of guidelines for municipalities and member organizations, on some of the issues which may come up. The Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association along with the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities are members of the FCM.

Gordon Barnhart is the president of SUMA. He explained the idea of the guidelines is to cover a number of topics.

'What this ruling really is, is a missed opportunity to liberalize trade,' Calgary economist says

A Supreme Court of Canada ruling on interprovincial beer imports has sparked fears that provinces and territories will be free to impose restrictions on cannabis flowing over their borders at a time the industry is in its early stages of growth.

In its ruling on the so-called free-the-beer case, the top court said provinces and territories can restrict imports of goods, as long as their intent isn't to impede trade.

Despite that proviso, economists said there is enough wiggle room in the decision allowing provinces to impose restrictions on the legal trade of cannabis.

It has at least one local pot company worried.