LangleyAdvance Your community newspaper since 1931
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
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Happy Canada Day
Langley’s four-day Canada Day celebration at Willoughby Community Park wraps up today, Tuesday, July 1. Helping to put it together are event director Lina Mincova and Dr. Sarwan Singh Randhawa, who is the communications and media director of the celebration. Monday, June 30, was Langley International Festival Day at the park, followed by today’s Canada Day party with music, magicians, dancing troupes, clowns, entertainers, dog shows, and a children’s chalet with bouncy castles, and a wide range of games and activities. Fireworks will be set off sometime after 10 p.m. Also today in Fort Langley, Canada’s birthday is marked at several sites throughout the village. There’s also celebrations in Aldergrove and Cloverdale.
Legal issues
Medicinal pot grow-ops green-lighted
Marijuana farms may spring up in Langley Township, but they’ll pay higher taxes. by Matthew Claxton mclaxton@langleyadvance.com
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Troy Landreville/Langley Advance
Medical marijuana can be grown on Langley farmland, after the province overruled a Township bylaw against the practice. The Township voted earlier this year to restrict growing medical marijuana to industrial areas only. Agriculture Minister Norm Letnick sent the Township mayor a letter on June 24 saying he would not approve that bylaw. The Agricultural Land Commission has already ruled that medical marijuana crops are a permitted use in the Agricultural Land Reserve, which includes about 70 per cent of the
Township. Ministry staff are to work with “This latest decision is unfortulocal governments to create a nate,” said Township Mayor Jack “bylaw standard” that will allow Froese. “We recognize there is a municipalities to draft bylaws need for medical marijuana, but that will meet the guidelines and these are intensive operations allow pot to grow on ALR land. that our council feels are better At least one local greenhouse suited for industrial areas, rather owner, a longtime orchid grower, than on farmland.” had planned to move into medicThe letter from the province al marijuana. The owner of Koch spells out the Greenhouses spoke province’s posout last December “There are intensive ition. and urged counoperations that our “The Ministry cil not to pass the of Agriculture council feels are better bylaw. supports the The debate over suited for industrial ALC’s position industrial versus areas.” that medical rural growing of marihuana promedical marijuana Jack Froese duction is conbegan last year as sistent with the the federal governdefinition of ‘farm use’ in the ment laid out new rules for medAgricultural Land Commission ical marijuana. Act and is allowable in the ALR, In the past, marijuana grows and the ministry’s policy position were small-scale, either by the is that medical marijuana produc- patients or by small suppliers. tion in the ALR should not be Most grow ops were in houses or prohibited by local governments”. garages, and they tended to be
set up like illegal grow ops. This caused a number of problems. Police would set up raids only to find that they had targeted a legal operation. Criminals would attack the homes if they found them, to steal and re-sell the pot. Municipalities had concerns over the fire safety issues that crop up with most indoor grow ops. The federal government has also experimented in the past with growing its own marijuana in an old mine shaft in Flin Flon, Man. The new system was a move to a free market system, in which companies could be licensed by the government and grow to supply a larger number of patients. Medical grow ops will be excluded from farm classification for property tax and assessment purposes under the provincial rules, which means they will be taxed at a higher rate than most farms.