Cannabis retailing wasn't Doug Ford's top priority when he's sworn-in as premier last week. But it's on his agenda. As he said the previous week, "The stated goal ... is to ensure that we can tackle the illegal market." To prepare for that goal, he and his ministers have work to do this summer.

They can start at the Ontario Cannabis Retail Corporation (OCRC). Although Ontario was the first province to pass legislation, OCRC's behind in preparing for sales.

One concern is that it hasn't any cannabis to sell. OCRC asked growers to submit offers in April, but hasn't announced any contracts yet.

By contrast, Quebec already had six supply contracts signed in April. Other provinces have since announced their own.

OCRC's retail preparations also seem stalled. It announced its first four store addresses on April 11, but hasn't posted any updates since then. A reporter who visited the proposed Toronto site last week found just a papered-over storefront.

By contrast, last month New Brunswick showed reporters one of its 11 already-finished outlets. It had nine more undergoing renovation.

Store numbers are something else Ford should discuss with OCRC. New Brunswick's 20 stores will serve its 760,000 residents. By comparison, Ontario is planning only 40 this year to serve 14 million people. It has almost 20 times the population, but only double the store count.

Legal cannabis will have better luck competing with illicit pot if stores are conveniently common. If Ontario sticks with government outlets, as the New Democrats prefer, it will need far more than 40 stores, or even the 150 planned by 2020.

The Conservatives should consider adding at least some private retailers, as five other provinces are doing. Ontario's existing cannabis law doesn't permit independent stores. But it does allow OCRC to subcontract to outside agents.

The Liquor Control Board of Ontario does exactly this with alcohol. Its 212 agency retailers serve sparsely populated areas lacking LCBO outlets.

Let's have OCRC work with licensed cannabis growers as its agents. They've already been vetted by Health Canada, and obviously understand cannabis. If Ontario's 59 licensed growers each opened one on-site storefront, the store count would more than double.

For large corporate growers, these shops would essentially be factory outlets. Canopy Growth last fall requested such a "greenhouse outlet" store for its Smith Falls site. (That former Hershey factory likewise included a popular chocolate outlet.)

Smaller growers might model themselves on microbrewers and vineyards, thereby appealing to upscale tourists. That could help these micro-cultivators survive. They'll have difficulty supplying large retailers like OCRC that want cannabis by the truckload.

Longer term, the Conservatives might consider modifying Ontario's cannabis law. Should private sector retailers operate alongside of OCRC? That's the British Columbia model and the Green party's preference. The Association of Municipalities of Ontario particularly wants to let small businesses into cannabis selling.

Or should the government disband OCRC and leave retailing entirely to private businesses, as the Prairie provinces are doing? Ford has a stated preference for free markets over government monopolies. This option may become more attractive if OCRC doesn't get off to a good start.

Licensed cannabis smoking lounges are another possibility. They would particularly help people living in non-smoking apartments. But our society's spent decades cutting back on public tobacco smoking. Licensing cannabis lounges now would seem a step backwards.

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The Conservatives have much summertime homework to do before legal cannabis sales begin Oct. 17.