Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has plans to levy a federal excise tax on all recreational cannabis the moment it becomes legal in July next year. Half of the revenues generated by it will go to the different provinces and territories throughout Canada, and the other half to fund various government and community programs. Gonzales Marijuana Delivery
Trudeau put this federal proposal to premiers on Wednesday, during a meeting of first ministers in Ottawa. Under Trudeau’s plan, every gram of recreational pot in the country will be subject to a $1 excise tax on sales up to $10. For sales exceeding $10, this excise tax will be 10 percent of the sale. Birds Landing Marijuana Delivery
However, some of Canada’s premiers are now arguing over it, claiming that because provinces will be the ones footing most regulatory and enforcement costs for the new tax plan and for legalizing marijuana overall, they deserve and should get most of the revenues, unlike the territories, which do not have these types of obligations imposed on them. Carpinteria Marijuana Delivery
“For the first time that I am aware of, the federal government is looking at a revenue-sharing model,” said Premier John Horgan, of British Columbia, as he was leaving his first ever First Ministers Meeting in Ottawa on Tuesday. “That is not something we had contemplated before. I believe provinces are concerned that there is a whole bunch of costs imposed on us in terms of distribution, in terms of regulation, and so on.” Revenues should be calculated and dispensed accordingly. Birds Landing Marijuana Delivery
Trudeau says that provinces are still negotiating these types of issues, including the costs associated with legalization, fair sharing of revenues, and the level of taxation on cannabis. He emphasized emphatically that the goal of legalization was not an attempt to make money or profiteer from it in any way, but rather to introduce it legally to a society with the right to consume it for medical or recreational reasons. Gonzales Marijuana Delivery
Trudeau insists that all first ministers agree that the first priority of legalization is to keep marijuana out of reach of children and take control of it away from criminal gangs. Creating a regulatory environment for the cultivation, production, distribution, and sale of legal marijuana will undermine the black market and ensure the health and safety of cannabis consumers visiting or living in Canada.
