Alberta finance minister blasts federal cannabis tax
Posted Nov 10, 2017 5:26 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
CALGARY – Alberta’s finance minister isn’t mincing words in his reaction to the federal government seeking to split tax profits on pot on a 50-50 basis.
Joe Ceci says he wonders what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government “is smoking.”
Ottawa is proposing an excise tax of $1 per gram of cannabis or 10 per cent of the final retail price, whichever is higher, when recreational use becomes legal in July.
The federal government is handling overall health rules on cannabis along with beefing up Criminal Code sanctions for impairment.
It’s up to the provinces to pay for and operate the retail distribution of cannabis while also enforcing the rules to keep roads, schools and workplaces safe.
Ceci says given the provinces’ responsibilities and spending on cannabis they should get most or all of the tax.
