In a quick, unanimous vote, MacTier said no to turning the town’s only arena into a medical-marijuana grow operation.
The vote was a sharp contrast to the weeks of debate and protest over the possibility of turning MacTier’s only arena into a medical marijuana grow-op.
Dawn MacDonald is one of the residents who spearheaded opposition to the marijuana facility.
“We were told we were the noisy minority, but in five days we rallied 1,300 signatures on our petition and in our community,” MacDonald says. “That’s almost 100 per cent, so we were speaking on behalf of the community and they resoundingly said no.”
Bruce Henn is a cancer survivor, and knows that marijuana can be an effective form of treatment, but he says it was never about the drug. It’s about the building.
“It’s a necessity in the medical field, it’s just the location,” he says. “You know, we need the arena and the community hall for our youth, for our seniors.”
No members of council would speak to CTV on camera about today’s decision. Mettrum, the company hoping to build the facility, says they are disappointed with today’s decision. But the CEO adds they’re already moving on with discussions in other communities.
The arena is under-used, and loses money. Council didn’t anticipate the strong reaction, however. Today, council listened, and threw out the letter of intent with Mettrum Industries.
Community members now say they will work to increase the arena’s use. Council is tasked with figuring out how to fix the building’s finances. The arena brings in about $40,000 per year, and costs $250,000 to run.
