In a tree-nestled First Nation community on Vancouver Island, forestry and farming used to be the major industries that kept the economy humming and put food on families91裸聊视频� tables.
But members of the Cowichan Tribes, like people from so many small and rural towns in Canada, have seen jobs driven elsewhere through dramatic changes to those sectors.
So when a medical marijuana company moved next door, Chief William Seymour saw an opportunity for his members to get good jobs and stay in the area.
91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 their home. It is hard for any First Nation, doesn91裸聊视频檛 matter where you go, when they grow up in their own community. Having to move is always a huge thing,91裸聊视频� he said.
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Harvest One Cannabis Inc.91裸聊视频檚 grow facility is located on land owned by the Cowichan Tribes just outside Duncan, B.C. The company hopes to employ members of the First Nation once it completes a $9-million expansion, and the band is offering to pay for training courses to get prospective workers up to speed.
Across Canada, medical marijuana companies have begun ramping up production capacity and staff levels in anticipation of legalization of recreational cannabis on July 1, 2018. The companies need space 91裸聊视频� and lots of it 91裸聊视频� to grow thousands of plants, making rural areas or former manufacturing towns a natural fit for their operations.
Canopy Growth Corp., Canada91裸聊视频檚 largest pot producer, transformed a vacant Hershey chocolate factory in Smiths Falls, Ont., into a grow facility that largely employs locals. In Alberta, suffering since the oil-price crash, Aurora Cannabis Inc. is building a nearly 75,000-square-metre production plant in Leduc, while Invictus MD has moved into the tiny hamlet of Peers.
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British Columbia91裸聊视频檚 Cowichan Valley, which includes Duncan, is an example of a region that91裸聊视频檚 been supportive of the cannabis industry, said Graham Whitmarsh, chief operating officer of Harvest One and a former industry consultant who once worked on projects in the province91裸聊视频檚 Interior, including Merritt.
91裸聊视频淭here91裸聊视频檚 a (type) of community where I think this fits well, especially those that may have historically relied on the logging industry,91裸聊视频� said Whitmarsh, a former deputy minister in B.C.91裸聊视频檚 previous Liberal government. 91裸聊视频淢erritt is a good example. A major sawmill closed down there just a cuple of years ago.
91裸聊视频淭his is an entirely new business. It91裸聊视频檚 going to grow to be something substantial at the end of the day and it91裸聊视频檚 not dependent on the local resources, so the communities are a good fit.91裸聊视频�
Some laid-off resource workers are looking forward to legalization. Sixty-year-old Arnold Meyer worked at the Tolko mill in Merritt for 40 years before receiving a pink slip last December. Standing outside the shuttered mill in May, as Premier John Horgan made a campaign stop, Meyer said he was still looking for work.
91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 OK, pot91裸聊视频檚 going to be legal soon,91裸聊视频� Meyer said, adding he91裸聊视频檚 hopeful a large cannabis company will move to the community.
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In U.S. jurisdictions that have legalized recreational marijuana, some small towns have reaped the benefits. The Colorado Springs Gazette reported the town of Sedgwick was on the verge of collapse before it allowed cannabis dispensaries to open in 2012, and it has since used the tax revenue to rebuild crumbling infrastructure.
Across the country in Adelanto, Calif., commercial marijuana growing ignited a land rush that prompted home values to skyrocket, LA Weekly reported. And on Friday, marijuana company American Green Inc. announced it planned to buy the entire town of Nipton, Calif., for $5 million and transform it into an 91裸聊视频渆nergy-independent, cannabis-friendly hospitality destination.91裸聊视频�
But Lewis Koski, a consultant who was formerly director of Colorado91裸聊视频檚 Marijuana Enforcement Division, advised caution to Canadian municipalities hoping to cash in on legal cannabis.
He said in Colorado, the only tax that91裸聊视频檚 levied on cultivation goes entirely into state coffers and it91裸聊视频檚 not until tax is collected at the retail point of sale that a shareback goes to local jurisdictions. Municipalities may be able to create their own cultivation taxes, but that would harm their competitiveness, he said.
Further, the $500-million in tax and fee revenue collected by the state since 2014 is less than one per cent of the state91裸聊视频檚 budget and most of it has gone back into cannabis enforcement and education, he said.
But he said there has been statewide job growth, with about 30,000 people licensed to work in the cannabis industry. That figure doesn91裸聊视频檛 necessarily include people peripherally employed by the sector, including construction workers, plumbers, electricians, lawyers, accountants and consultants.
Still, some experts remain skeptical.
Prof. Werner Antweiler of the University of British Columbia91裸聊视频檚 Sauder School of Business said he expects legalization to create few new jobs, but it probably will move some illegal jobs into the legal economy.
91裸聊视频淚 seriously doubt that small towns in particular would benefit from cannabis legalization,91裸聊视频� he said.
91裸聊视频淭he point to keep in mind is that marijuana legalization is not an employment policy. The main focus is on taking this business out of the hands of gangs, regulating and safeguarding supply, and influencing demand in order to reduce negative health outcomes.91裸聊视频�
Laura Kane, The Canadian Press
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