Wednesday, January 23, 2019 | Your community newspaper since 1916
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LNG Canada headed TrueNorth Susannah Pierce, external affairs director LNG Canada, speaks on Tuesday at the TrueNorth Business Development Forum, co-hosted by the Prince George and BC Chambers of Commerce at the Courtyard by Marriott.
Zaga’s owner upset with pot process Pedestrian killed in Mark NIELSEN Citizen staff mnielsen@pgcitizen.ca A local business owner seeking to open up a privately operated cannabis retail store is accusing Victoria of allowing a governmentrun operation it wants to establish in Prince George to jump the approval-process queue. Ginny Burnett, who has owned and operated Zaga’s Hemp Shop in Prince George for 15 years, says city staff gave the Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch initial approval to proceed with her application on Oct. 30 after taking it through its own vetting process. That was three weeks before the Liquor Distribution Branch told the city it was ready to seek council’s approval to establish a B.C. Cannabis Store at the Westgate Shopping Centre – yet Burnett is still waiting for the LCRB to send her application back to the city for council’s consideration while the provincial government’s was advanced to the public hearing stage on Monday. The LCRB maintains a policy of not stating publicly where in the approval process an application stands. But in accordance with the Cannabis Control and Licensing Act, applicants from the private sector must obtain a licence from the
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I think they’re sandbagging. I think they’re not tentatively accepting anyone until they get theirs through... there’s absolutely no reason why I wouldn’t have had my approval complete by now. — Ginny Burnett, Zaga’s Hemp Shop LCRB before they can set up shop whereas publicly-run ones, which are governed under a different piece of legislation, do not, meaning their process is shorter. Burnett said she recognizes private-sector applicants will go through a more thorough vetting process but suspects something more sinister is afoot. “I think they’re sandbagging,” Burnett said of the provincial government. “I think they’re not tentatively accepting anyone until they get theirs through... there’s absolutely no reason why
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I wouldn’t have had my approval complete by now.” She said the LCRB told her two months ago her application was good to go. She suggested it won’t be until the B.C. Cannabis Store is up an running before any applications from the private sector are forwarded to the city for approval by council. And Burnett expressed doubt about how much money can be made selling cannabis. “I’m doing this to keep our share of the market,” she said. “That’s the only reason we’re doing it.” Burnett also stressed that she is not upset with the city. “They’re just doing their job,” she said. On Monday, Coun. Brian Skakun raised the same concern prior to council voting unanimously to pass B.C. Cannabis Store’s application to rezone the old RBC branch at Westgate through first and second reading. A public hearing is tentatively scheduled for the Feb. 4 council meeting. “I know there are several in the community that are looking for permission from the province to come here,” Skakun said. As of November, the province was reviewing eight applications to establish cannabis stores in the city.
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Quesnel, two hit in P.G. Prince George RCMP are urging walkers to take precautions before crossing a street after attending to two collisions over Monday night where the driver was not at fault. In Quesnel, meanwhile, a 32-year-old Quesnel woman was killed Monday night when she was struck by a vehicle while crossing Maple Drive near Kube Road in the community south of Prince George. RCMP, who were called to the scene at 8:38 p.m., said the driver remained on the scene and Maple Drive was closed to traffic for several hours as investigators gathered evidence. “The investigation is in its early stages, but preliminary information has revealed the woman was wearing dark clothing and was not in a marked crosswalk,” Quesnel RCMP said. The victim’s name was not released. In Prince George, RCMP and other emergency personnel were called to Fifth Avenue and Carney Street at 7 p.m. after an elderly woman using a walker
was trying to cross Carney but did not make it before the light had changed. Because the pedestrian was wearing dark clothing, the driver of a full-sized sedan did not see the woman until it was too late. Despite the driver swerving at the last second, she was struck by the car’s side mirror. Then, at about 12:30 a.m. on Tuesday, emergency services were called to 20th Avenue near Spruce Street where a man wearing dark clothing and on a skateboard was struck in the middle of the block by a pickup truck. In both cases, the drivers remained on the scene and are not facing charges. Both victims were taken to hospital with nonlife-threatening injuries. “The RCMP would like to remind all pedestrians that reflective clothing or blinking lights are the best way to ensure you are seen when walking along or across our roads,” Prince George RCMP Cpl. Craig Douglass said. “Please take the time to ensure you are safe, especially during the dark hours of the day.”
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