Image

Developer denied chance to set up pot shop

August 20, 2020

Alex Kurial
Local Journalism Initiative

No means no in St. Clair Township.
Council has once again decided against allowing cannabis stores in the township.
Council’s vote was unanimous to keep pot shops off the streets. The request had been brought forward by a local realtor – Doug Lasenby – who said he had several requests from cannabis entrepreneurs to establish businesses in St. Clair.
When the province first set up the rules for commercial cannabis shops, municipalities had to decide if they would want a pot shop.
The township did not originally ‘opt-in’ to allowing cannabis shops when the product became legal in 2018. That gave St. Clair council the right to refuse such businesses, with the option to reconsider at a later date.
The main sticking point was that under current laws they’d be unable to regulate the number of cannabis shops. Permission cannot be given to only a certain town or plaza, but applies to the entire municipality.
In Sarnia, there are seven applications for pot shops on the books.
“Until we have clarification on whether we can restrict the amount of these I can’t support it,” says Deputy Mayor Steve Miller.
“I don’t want a cannabis store in every village in the township.”
Councillor Jim DeGurse says there are already enough cannabis shops nearby to serve St. Clair residents. “We can go two miles to the north and hit four [cannabis shops] already operating,” says DeGurse.
Several cannabis stores are located along the St. Clair Parkway in Aamjiwnaang First Nation territory.

Share This

Image
Front Page

Bluewater Health shouldn’t have been collecting SINs says privacy commissioner report

June 18, 2025

Heather Wright/The Independent Bluewater Health had no legal reason to collect Social Insurance Numbers from its patients. That information is contained in a just released report by Francisco Woo, an investigator in the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner. Woo’s 35-page report examines whether Bluewater Health, its IT provider TransForm Shared Services and the four other regional hospitals affected

Read More

Image
Front Page

Bluewater Health should have been clear about ‘hostile encryption and its impact’ after cyber attack

June 18, 2025

Information and Privacy Commission report says patient data lock down by hackers ‘overshadows the scale of data’ stolen and sold on the dark web Heather Wright/The Independent Ontario’s Information Privacy Commissioner says Bluewater Health should have notified every single patient whose data was locked down, but not released, that their information was affected during the October 2023 cyber hack .

Read More

Image
Front Page

Conservation foundation closes Greenhill Garden

June 18, 2025

Heather Wright/The Independent Overwhelmed by expenses, lack of workers, theft of equipment and homelessness encampments, the St. Clair Region Conservation Foundation has closed a Wilkesport landmark. Greenhill Gardens – a once privately-owned oasis in rural St. Clair Township – closed Monday. The gardens were cultivated by Joy Robson for years. She and her husband, Bill, allowed people to come and

Read More

Image
Front Page

St. Clair gas power plant plans major expansion

June 17, 2025

Heather Wright/The Independent Invenergy wants to power up the St. Clair Energy Centre across from NOVA Chemicals on Petrolia Line. Officials say they’re planning to build a new turbine at the site, increasing the power generation by about 50 per cent. The provincial government says Ontario will need about 75 per cent more power by 2050 so it’s encouraging more

Read More