By Cheryl Jahn

City still waiting for cannabis revenue-sharing

Feb 6, 2024 | 2:47 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – It was a simple application that prompted yet another discussion around a source of revenue the city was promised but was never forthcoming. The share of revenues from the sales of marijuana.

“We agreed that the federal the federal government would take 25 percent of the share of taxation revenues over the next two years and leave 75 percent of those taxation revenues to provinces so that they can fairly deal with their costs and also work with municipalities to make sure that we actually achieve our goals of keeping kids safe,” noted Bill Morneau, Finance Minister in 2017.

Cannabis became legal in Canada in October of 2018 and millions flowed to the provinces. Ontario opted to stand behind the revenue sharing.

Women's Basketball

Duchess Park alumna added to Timberwolves Basketball roster

4h ago

Wildfire

Crescent Spur Wildfire evacuation alert lifted

15h ago

Wildfire

Families from Fort Nelson seek refuge in Prince George amid Parker Lake wildfire

16h ago

“BC said, ‘No, we’re not going to give any of that to the municipalities.’ And municipalities across B.C. through the Union of BC Municipalities have been reminding the government regularly what’s up with this? I mean, after year three, they’d collected more than $112 million in excise tax and we’ve got nothing,” says Councillor Garth Frizzell, who has been advocating for revenue-sharing of cannabis sales for years.

The gas tax puts three million dollars into city coffers every year. And Frizzell says the cannabis revenues would be put to good use.

“Bylaw enforcement. The other might be RCMP enforcement. We didn’t know what to expect with that, and that was the same with the provincial government. So they’ve had time to collect the money and spend the money. We’ve had time to just collect up what the challenges are and there’s been no contribution.”

He noted the Union of B.C. Municipalities continues to lobby the province for municipalities’ share of the grass tax.”