The Ontario government expects 500 to 1,000 private cannabis stores will open across the province after legalization, with no set limits on how many can be located in one neighbourhood or even on one street.

The Doug Ford government has rejected the previous government’s plan to limit the provincewide number to 150 LCBO-operated stores.

The Conservatives have also decided not to follow the Kathleen Wynne government’s lead to ban cannabis smoking and vaping in public, instead allowing it anywhere tobacco and e-cigarettes can be legally used — including sidewalks.

The Justin Trudeau government is legalizing recreational cannabis as of Oct. 17.

In Ontario, weed will initially be available for purchase via a province-run online delivery service, with brick-and-mortar retail stores permitted to open after April 1.

The provincial Cannabis Statute Law Amendment Act was introduced Thursday, both to amend the Smoke-Free Ontario Act to include cannabis, and to create a framework for the issuing of licences to operate cannabis retail stores.

The legislation allows the provincial government to set guidelines down the road for concentration of stores, but does not include a hard cap on the total number of retail outlets.

Attorney General Caroline Mulroney said the goal is to allow people to participate in the legal market.

Anyone who has links to organized crime or is running an illegal pot shop will be excluded from obtaining a retail licence.

“We’ve been very clear that if they wish to participate in the legal market that they should not be operating an illegal dispensary on Oct. 17,” Mulroney said.

A criminal record doesn’t necessarily prohibit someone from obtaining a licence to run a legal cannabis store.

Those licences cannot be transferred or sold, and the government intends to ensure that no companies end up dominating the potentially lucrative market.

A buffer between schools and cannabis stores will be mandatory.

Local governments will also be able to opt-out of hosting private cannabis stores entirely, though they will not be eligible for the same share of $40 million the province has set aside to compensate municipalities for the additional costs related to legal cannabis.

Liberal Leader John Fraser said the introduction of legal recreational cannabis requires thoughtful, incremental measures.

“The government’s not taking that cautious approach,” he said.

His own government had essentially limited pot smoking to private residences and he predicted many Ontarians will be upset by the more open rules around smoking cannabis, especially in places like provincial parks or public beaches.

“I don’t want somebody sparking up, lighting a joint, next to me and my grandkids,” Fraser said. “It’s not good for them from a health perspective.”

OPSEU president Warren “Smokey” Thomas, who represents employees of the LCBO, said Ontario will “become the wild west of cannabis and Sheriff Doug Ford is going to skip town, leaving communities and municipalities holding the dime bag.”

Finance Minister Vic Fedeli said his government consulted widely with municipalities, First Nations and law enforcement before concluding that cannabis should be added to the Smoke-Free Ontario prohibitions.

Municipalities could also pass bylaws to further restrict the use of cannabis.

“I know in my own community of North Bay our health unit has placed restrictions on areas where you can’t smoke in public parks or in our ball fields and things like that,” Fedeli said.

“I think it will evolve over time. People will understand the courtesies.”

aartuso@postmedia.com