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The proposal goes on to state: “The goal of achieving full cost recovery is balanced against two important policy objectives for the Government of Canada: supporting a diverse, national cannabis industry that includes smaller entities and continuing to ensure that individuals who have the authorization of their healthcare practitioner have access to cannabis for medical purposes.”

For this reason, the proposal discounts some fees for nurseries and “micro class” licences and exempts licensees who sell cannabis exclusively for medical purposes.

Apart from these goals, the proposal makes no reference to the government’s often-repeated primary public policy objectives of cannabis legalization: (1) to keep cannabis out of the hands of youth; and (2) to keep profits out of the pockets of organized crime.

Nor does the proposal refer to the taxes that the federal and provincial governments have already announced they will impose on cannabis. These include an excise duty of $1/gram or 10 per cent of the producer’s selling price, whichever is higher, and GST/HST depending on the province of sale.

It also fails to acknowledge that cost recovery for government services is not imposed on many industries whose products are then also subject to special taxes, like those proposed to be applied on cannabis.

The legal form of a user fee is not the same as a tax. The former is approved by cabinet and passed by order-in-council; the latter is proposed in legislation and passed by Parliament. However, the ultimate impact of fees and taxes may well be exactly the same.