Whereas following the legalization of non-medicinal cannabis in July 2018, the Province has implemented legislation that enables local governments to regulate cannabis retail activities within their jurisdictions; And whereas the Province has finalized a cannabis excise tax coordination agreement with the federal government, which includes a share of the 75 percent of the cannabis excise tax revenues being allocated to provinces and territories; And whereas the Province acknowledges the strong local government interest in cannabis excise tax revenue sharing and the Province has noted it is committed to working with local governments to understand the potential costs they may experience as a result of cannabis legalization; And whereas cannabis retail stores have been legally operating in BC local government jurisdictions since 2018 and excise tax revenues have been collected by senior governments since 2018: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM request the Province commit to negotiating with local governments, through UBCM, to advance the development and implementation of a provinciallocal government cannabis excise tax revenue sharing agreement.
