Features

My vote goes to pot

Published on September 15, 2021 by David Wylie

I’m personally interested—and invested—in Okanagan cannabis.

How each local candidate approaches weed this federal election has a say in how I vote.

(I hope I’m not alone in that thinking.)

To that end, I reached out to four candidates from different parties in the Okanagan to get their thoughts on pot:

• Dan Albas, of the Conservative Party;
• Tim Krupa of the Liberal Party;
• Richard Cannings, of the NDP; and
• Imre Szeman, of the Green Party

Cannabis has issues

There are a lot of federal issues that require proper policy and attention. This is after all, a regulated industry on a global scale.

Topics I asked about include:

• THC limits on drinks and edibles
• Sustainable packaging and practices
• Strict advertising and marketing rules
• Pardons vs. expungements
• How they’d support Canada on the global level

“It’s the economy, stupid.”
— James Carville

The challenges for the industry are complex and numerous.

Weed is big business. Cannabis is a $4 billion industry in Canada. Some Licensed Producers located in the Okanagan, including The Valens Company and The Flowr Corporation, are global in scope.

Weed powers the economy. It employs thousands of workers in retail, production, distribution, government and service industries throughout each community.

3 for 4 on interviews

Each politician had varying degrees of knowledge and comfort speaking about the issues facing the cannabis industry and consumers.

Conservative Dan Albas, who is the incumbent MP in the riding of Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, opted not to answer questions. He explained he couldn’t speak to the issues, but invited cannabis companies to reach out to him.

The three other candidates agreed to an interview. The first question to each was:  ‘What’s the most important issue for you/your party when it comes to cannabis.’

Here are their answers:

Liberals

Tim Krupa is the Liberal candidate for Kelowna-Lake Country

I’m really proud that our government legalized and regulated marijuana. I think it helps keep kids safe and keep millions of dollars out of the pockets of criminal organizations and street gangs.

I think one thing that’s important is to ensure Canadians who do have possession charges can be pardoned. They have serious lifelong implications from that even if it’s a minor charge. This can also help reduce the burden on our court systems.

Overall regulation can lead to a safer product for Canadians.

NDP

NDP incumbent MP Richard Cannings is an incumbent running for re-election in the South Okanagan—West Kootenay riding

This riding has maybe a different focus on cannabis than many ridings in Canada because it was really one of the hearts of the legacy production, as we call it now.

There are still a lot of producers out there on the black market. Many of them would like to get into the legal market. There are real hurdles to that both in terms of investments, money, and a huge amount of bureaucracy. We have Community Futures projects in the Kootenays that are helping some of those producers get over those hurdles.

During the whole process of legalization I did a lot of lobbying and advocacy for people like that who felt that they were being pushed out of the market by multinational corporate growers, who were indoors, big operations, instead of going the —what was called then and now — the craft cannabis market, small areas, small production.

That’s where most of my issues lie in this riding, more in the production side and trying to keep some if that legacy that made BC famous.

Green

Imre Szeman is the Green Party candidate for Kelowna-Lake Country

I think some of what the Green Party is worried about is the legal repercussions for people who have simple possession of cannabis.

Also, trying to think about cannabis in relation to public health in the same way that governments do with alcohol and tobacco. But that public health being connected with evidence-based research and the experience of those who have worked in the field.

Those are the two things that the Green Party has in its current platform.

For more in depth coverage of these interviews, subscribe to receive this Friday’s edition of the oz. at theounce.ca