You are correct. The town contends it is processi

You are correct. The town contends it is processing, the company disagree's. Really that is the main point here and as to who will have the final say, I am betting it will be the Ontario Municipal Board who administers the land act for Ontario. S.41 of the Land Act deals with value added. It will be the determination of processing under the Land Act, not the HC Act that will determine the final outcome. If a company wished to they could grow peas on that land, open up a huge canning factory and can the peas with less change and activity a medical mj facility will have and the town would not allow that to happen. The town also stated "small amounts" but that is not clearly defined and may be arguable in court. That could mean the lowering of expectations on that site from the 1.3 million pounds per year (over time) to smaller amounts to stay within the definition but again, a court likely will have to rule that under the Land Act a small amount would be considered X amount. Lawyers will make money off this before anyone. That will be the gist of the matter as I find it highly unlikely given where we are on the calendar that anything will happen at that site prior to the November 4th town council meeting when the matter of zoning amendments will be dealt with. If HC does not grant the license prior to the zoning amendments being adopted, politically the landscape changes and the Q&A will be vital for the company to garner support from residents and to illustrate most if not all the fears are un-grounded. The fear of crime poised by the lawyer representing the residents near the facility is ridiculous and if not fear mongering, at least a song of innocence. Do distilleries, wineries have higher crime rates where they are located? Have any other grow sites been subjected to high crime rates? |I doubt it.
This facility will happen, it just may be a slightly different facility at the end of the day.