Now that cannabis is legal as of Oct. 17, it appears the new town councillors are not happy about that, and want to see strong limitations on its use in public.
That's judging by comments at last week's all-candidates forum for the Oct. 15 election.
Eight of the nine participants at the forum have by now been elected to council.
Jane Groenewegen, a former MLA and minister of Health and Social Services, and an outspoken opponent of cannabis legalization, asked candidates to look at regulation precedents in other communities, noting, for example, that a person cannot smoke cigarettes or cannabis in any public place in Halifax, N.S.
"I want to hear from councillors what you will do to protect my air quality," she said. "I can't stand the smell of weed. What are you going to do about that to protect our citizens, our children, people that are in the public from having to breathe that smoke? What kind of motion can you pass for us?"
Groenewegen noted there are already regulations against consumption of liquor in public places.
Her question prompted a chorus of criticism by candidates against the handling of cannabis legalization by the federal government and the GNWT.
"For myself, it is overwhelming that we have this coming into fruition," said Robert Bouchard. "For me, it just seems like a step backwards. I don't think in Canada here we've discussed it enough. I think the future generations are going to go, 'What did you guys decide to do? Why did you do that?'"
Bouchard said he would prefer to restrict use in as many places as possible, similar to regulations against the public use of alcohol.
Linda Duford agreed public use of cannabis needs to be regulated.
"I feel that this is probably the number one thing that council does have to address, because in my opinion it's come on too soon," she said. "I don't think many of the communities in the NWT were quite ready for it."
Jeffery Groenewegen called it "regressive legislation" from Ottawa.
Keith Dohey, who is an incumbent councillor, noted he put forward a motion about a month ago to draft a bylaw to prohibit cannabis use in public places.
Dohey said a draft bylaw, most likely an amendment to the existing smoking bylaw, is supposed to be discussed at council's next meeting on Oct. 23. (The current council's term of office ends on Nov. 5.)
"That's what I'd like to see, as well, treat it like alcohol," he said. "You can't consume it in a public place."
Sandra Patterson-Lester said she is appalled that the federal government legalized marijuana before more guidelines were in place.
"I think it's an atrocity and they should not have done it until they had a real plan for Canada, but it's coming and now we have to deal with it," she said.
Town council is not the only organization having to adjust to cannabis legalization.
Another is the RCMP, which had its national media relations team respond to several questions from The Hub about its preparedness for the change.
"The RCMP has the necessary tools and resources in place, including officer training on cannabis legislation for all RCMP officers," stated the RCMP in an email. "This training informs and educates police officers in Canada on how to consistently apply the new laws surrounding cannabis."
As for a possible increase in driving under the influence of marijuana, the RCMP noted officers are trained to detect drug-impaired driving using roadside standard field sobriety testing and drug recognition expert evaluations post-arrest.
"The RCMP expects that Canadians will inform themselves of the laws and regulations surrounding cannabis legalization," stated the RCMP.
In Yellowknife on Oct. 10, GNWT officials outlined some details for cannabis sales, including the price of marijuana at liquor stores.
At $8.21, a low-end gram of legal marijuana will cost most residents in the territory $1.79 less than the average gram bought on the street. The GNWT is hoping that difference will negatively impact black market sales.
"If we are in that $8 to $10 range, under $10, that would be quite competitive with the illegal market," said Deputy Finance Minister Dave Stewart.
Consumers will be able to choose from an array of marijuana strains, varying in quality and potency. The priciest will go for $14.55 per gram.
– with files from Brendan Burke