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PoCo? More like PotCo

> Marijuana business presses on with new bylaw

Aaron Guillen
Staff Reporter

 

ocated ina strip mall beside Lions

Park, Cannabis Culture operates as a
budding entrepreneurship, one of the first
marijuana dispensaries of its kind in Port
Coquitlam. While the business aims to
spread throughout the Lower Mainland,
city officials haven't grown fond of the
storefront operation. Recently, city council
voted through an adjustment to a bylaw,
effectively placing added pressure on not
only businesses, but the landlords who
determine their tenants.

Essentially, the bylaw would place
responsibility of illegal actions taken
not only on the business operators, but
owners of those commercial properties.
“Currently, our bylaws only allow us

to give fines to the businesses if they're
doing something illegal or running
without a business licence,” said Port

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Coquitlam mayor Greg Moore to CTV
News.

“What we're going to do is [...] also
include the land owners. We think the
land owners have some responsibility in
ensuring what goes on in their building
actually is according to bylaws and the
laws of this country.”

The details of the bylaw state that,
unlike before, the city of Port Coquitlam
would charge land owners with a fine
before handing one to the business
themselves. In addition, the city will
have the right to sell the storefront and
pocket the income, should businesses not
observe the bylaw within five years.

With Cannabis Culture on the
defensive, marijuana businesses across
the Lower Mainland believe they are
being targeted. In late November, their
storefront was raided by police with
the aim of proving that the business
was breaking the Controlled Drugs and

Substances Act. According to local RCMP
Constable Jamie Phillipson, evidence was
retrieved, but no arrests were made. As
their investigation persists, marijuana
storefronts should stay aware, as
dispensaries such as Cannabis Culture are
banned across the nation.

Jodie Emery, spokeswoman for
Cannabis Culture, reminded the Tri-City
News that they were standing beside their
business mandate to stay “committed to
defending the civil liberties and freedom
of cannabis consumers, growers, and
providers by campaigning to end unjust
criminalization and persecution.”

According to Emery, the new bylaw
isn't the only trial their business has faced.
Every day, Cannabis Culture is fined $150
for operating without a business license.
In addition, city officials have parked a
police car in front of the store day in and
day out, further convincing Emery that
by scaring customers away, all fingers are

The Coquitlam connection

> Evergreen extension opens doors to public

Mercedes Deutscher
News Editor

 

he long awaited Evergreen
extension finally opened to
the public on December 2.

Passengers lined up for hours to take
a trip on the new line. Celebrations near
the new stations, with elegant and cultural
plazas and artwork, started at 10:30 a.m..,
with the largest of the celebrations taking
place at Coquitlam Central Station.

The trains began operating through
the Evergreen extension at 12 p.m.

Premier Christy Clark was one
of many public figures present at the
opening of the extension, and rode on
the inaugural ride, along with other
government officials and mayors.

“When people start to see how they're
going to get home faster, and they see that
their travel time is cut by about half, we're
going to see people flocking—to not just
take this transit, but to become members
of the incredible, beautiful communities
that are growing here,” Clark said to CTV.

The path that led to the opening of
the Evergreen extension was a difficult
one. After years of proposals and

 

planning—including delaying the project
in lieu of creating the Canada Line—
construction on the line began in 2013.
Issues during construction delayed
the project to open in Summer 2017.
However, with hard work, the train

Photograph by Analyn Cuarto

was able to begin operating this
December, and under budget.

The trains to Coquitlam will operate
every 3-5 minutes during peak hours, and
every 7-8 minutes outside of peak hours.

The opening of the extension

  

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Image via tricitynews.com

being pointed to businesses like theirs as
the one at fault.

“The bylaw changes are very
disappointing, especially when our
dispensary does no harm and helps a
lot of people. We even raised $3,000 for
veterans with a fundraiser the other day,
so we feel we can give back and allow Port
Coquitlam to benefit from the opportunity
that exists,” she said to Tri-City News.

“We believe in what we're doing,
so we don't close down unless the
persecution and punishment becomes too
heavy and harmful to our peaceful people
who work in and operate the franchise
locations. We make sure there are lawyers
on retainer for every location to cover the
costs of any arrested employees and to
challenge the law in court when needed.
That’s the way all cannabis law reform
has been won in Canada. We believe in
peaceful civil disobedience to demonstrate
what legalization should look like.”

also marked a milestone for Metro
Vancouver and TransLink. Now that the
Evergreen is operating, the SkyTrain
network is the longest automated
rapid transit network in the world.
Evergreen will also lead to changes in
traffic around the entire transit network.
The 97 B-line will cease to operate, as
Evergreen replaces its service route.
Commercial-Broadway and Lougheed
will also be experiencing more traffic in
the next several weeks, as the two are
the connections between the Expo line
and Millennium line. TransLink began
preparing for the changes in traffic in
October by dividing the Expo line to
have two terminus stations (King George
and Production Way- University).
Passengers can expect trains to
Coquitlam to be crowded in the first
few weeks of their operation before
leveling off to normal levels.
“[The Evergreen Line] can be
seen as a beginning for how we're
going to be investing in transit,
particularly in Vancouver, like with
the Broadway subway line,” said Isaiah
Bemrose-Fetter, a transit user, to the
Vancouver Sun. “We so need it.”