Encouraging response to the survey

Early survey results show there is an appetite to provide input into the rules for retail cannabis sales and public use of cannabis in Penticton. Staff launched the survey on April 16 and in the first week, received nearly 800 completions as well as hundreds of new registrations on shapeyourcitypenticton.ca, the City’s online engagement platform.

“The slogan ‘WEED like to hear from you.’ seems to be setting the right tone as we are hearing from all walks of life including many people that have not previously been involved in City engagement activities,” says JoAnne Kleb, engagement strategist with the City of Penticton.

Staff took advantage of April 20, an important day in cannabis culture, to be in the community discussing what legalizing cannabis could mean to Penticton as well as to promote participation in the survey. They visited the community centre, the Okanagan lakeshore, downtown businesses, as well as the 4/20 gathering at Okanagan Lake Park. Staff also visited the Penticton Senior’s Drop-In Centre on Tuesday.

Early results from the survey show that the majority of people agree that regulating and legitimizing retail cannabis sales will be good for Penticton. “There is more alignment on this topic than one might expect,” says Kleb. “We’re off to a good start but would like to hear from more citizens. It’s important that we hear from as many people as possible as the feedback we gather will be shaping the City’s policies.”

The survey is the first step in the engagement program. With the feedback collected, staff will develop draft policies that will be shared with the community and discussed with affected stakeholder groups before a recommendation is made to Council.