As a major policy change comes down the pike in Canada on legalizing marijuana, a consultant on the topic told a Cornwall business audience that this “fluid” event will leave businesses with questions even after it’s legalized.

Ivan Vrana worked 18 years with Health Canada on the cannabis file before moving over to the private sector, consulting on marijuana in 2013. He’s been with the Ottawa consulting firm, Hill+Knowlton Strategies, as its vice president of public affairs since 2015.

Vrana told a chamber of commerce luncheon at Ramada Cornwall on Wednesday that the provincial and federal governments still have a lot to do before pot is legal for recreational use in this country.

MONCTON – Medical marijuana producer Organigram Holdings is making it first foray into the international cannabis market, buying a 25 per cent stake in the German company Alpha-Cannabis Germany (ACG).

The company will spend approximately $2.5-million in cash and $1.3-million in shares for the stake. Once the deal is finalized, Organigram will provide Alpha-Cannabis with dried cannabis flower and sweet leaf to be converted into extracts meant to supply the German medical cannabis market.

Province continues to prepare for July legalization of cannabis.

Municipal leaders had the chance to discuss the legalization of cannabis and how it could impact their communities before closing out the Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador (MNL) Symposium May 5.

Sean Ryan, the Newfoundland Liquor Corperation’s (NLC) vice-president of Regulatory Services and Social Responsibility, spoke at the Gander session to field cannabis questions.

“It’s probably the biggest societal shift I’ll see in my generation,” the retired law enforcement officer said about the July roll-out goal. “A lot of issues need to be met head on before welcoming product into the community.”

Miawpukek First Nation chosen to sell marijuana on its reserve.

It still has to be approved by the community, but the Miawpukek First Nation Reserve in Conne River was one of 24 successful applicants announced Monday to sell marijuana in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Chief Misel Joe says the weed will be tax free for some.

"Like everything else coming to the reserve, it would be tax exempt. Everything that's brought into the community is tax exempt, so that would be no different," Joe told CBC Radio's St. John's Morning Show.

Once burned by a “bong” mascot, Esquimalt council plans to be firmly in the driver’s seat when it comes to cannabis retailers

Esquimalt councillors have approved a new zoning bylaw that prohibits the retail sale of cannabis and cannabis lounges in any location in the township unless specifically rezoned to allow such use.

This effectively means that any cannabis dispensary wanting to locate in the township will have to go through a rezoning process.

“In my mind it helps us to, one, be very careful and controlled in terms what comes to us and where it will be situated,” said Mayor Barb Desjardins. “But also, in a rezoning you can talk to them about what are they going to provide for the community.

“This is a ‘nobody loses’ situation.”

Give it a few years, but British Columbia might see a tax windfall of over $110 million per year from the sale of legal cannabis, if its experience is anything like Washington State.

“When you’re three or four years into your market and pretty well established, I believe that’s within possibility,” said James MacRae, an industry consultant with the firm Straight Lines Analytics. 

The figure MacRae calculated is $112 million, based on B.C. being about two-thirds the size of Washington State’s market and using a basic description of Canada’s tax regime.

Canada’s rapidly growing cannabis industry now dominates the global trade in legal marijuana, says a report from a Washington, D. C., data analytics firm.

The companies that are frantically building growing facilities to supply Canadians with marijuana are also in a unique position to sell their products and expertise around the world, says the report from New Frontier Data. The independent research firm’s report provides a snapshot of Canada’s cannabis industry.

Canadian cannabis companies are exporting their products to countries on multiple continents, the report notes.

“Canadian (companies) are allowed to export abroad, making them some of the first companies in the world to sign international cannabis trade deals,” says the report.

Under a clouded sky that threatens rain, cyclists, moms pushing strollers and riders on horseback traverse the gravel path that meets the end of Lochside Drive in Central Saanich.

The path looks onto a green pastoral land that rolls out like a carpet, a blank canvas of protected agricultural land.

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Developer turned potpreneur Shawn Galbraith looks at the 36-acre parcel and sees unlimited potential for growing Canada’s next cash crop: cannabis.

His vision is to develop the Stanhope Dairy Farm into 21 glass-and-metal, high-security greenhouses that could bring jobs and a windfall of taxes for the District of Central Saanich.

In less than a month, Canada's Senate will be making a game-changing decision that'll impact the legal cannabis industry. At stake is bill C-45, which is better known as the Cannabis Act. If approved by Canada's federal government, it would make our neighbor to the north the very first developed country in the world to have legalized adult-use marijuana. In the process, it'll also be opening the door to billions of dollars in added annual sales.

Those looking to set up a retail cannabis store in Red Deer County will first have to go through the municipal planning commission.

Council approved bylaw changes on Tuesday to help ensure Red Deer County is ready once marijuana becomes legal.

“This is all brand new to Red Deer County. It’s not legal yet in Canada, but we’re trying to be ready,” said Red Deer County Mayor Jim Wood.

Cannabis retail operations in Red Deer County will be considered discretionary under the newly-passed regulations, therefore MPC approval is required. Wood says this means the public will get their say before an operator sets up shop.