South Okanagan cannabis lobby shares gripes with local candidates
Cannabis producers and retailers from the Penticton-Summerland riding met recently with four candidates running in the BC election to explain how the government’s actions are hindering the industry.
They met with BC Conservative candidate Amelia Boultbee, BC NDP candidate Tina Lee, and Independent candidates Tracy St. Claire and Roger Harrington at the PureFire Co. facility in Penticton, according to a Cannabis Lobby media release issued, Oct. 10.
“We are easily the highest taxed industry in Canada, if not the world,” PureFire Co. consultant Bill Lewis said in the release.
The BC Liquor Distribution Branch regulates alcohol and cannabis. There is a 3.5 per cent proprietary mark-up fee on alcohol but a 15 per cent mark-up on cannabis, according to the lobby. The mark up is collected by the branch and given to the government when the branch acts as a wholesaler.
“There are still excise fees that total nearly 100 per cent of the wholesale cost of the average gram, GST and PST that are paid at all five stages from seed to sale to the consumer, exorbitant banking fees, license renewal fees, etc, that must be paid to each level of government with very little, if any, left for the growth of the businesses that generate this revenue,” the release read.
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BC NDP candidate Tina Lee asked what would happen to the industry in five years if things stay the same.
“There won’t be one, it’s not viable, ” PureFire Co. 's Deena Lewis said.
The cannabis producers said the provincial candidates were unaware of the problems facing the industry at the start of the meeting, but by the end they felt the candidates were, “shocked and dismayed by the battles being fought every day by hard-working, tax-paying British Columbians in the cannabis industry across the province.”
The liquor distribution branch reported $3.3 billion in revenue from alcohol, and $574 million from cannabis for the 2023 to 2024 fiscal year. The revenues were a 0.7 per cent drop for alcohol and an 18 per cent increase for cannabis compared to the previous year.
"There are big opportunities in job growth, tourism, dining, healthcare, and entertainment provided by a healthy cannabis industry that can support this unsteady economic time, but only if the path forward becomes more hospitable. These opportunities remain untapped until the tax and regulatory burden is alleviated to at least the same standards as those used in the liquor industry," the release said.
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