The federal government's recently announced GST tax holiday applies to many products, including alcoholic beverages, but not cannabis.
And that has a provincial advocacy organization raising questions.
The BC Craft Farmers Co-Op (BCCFC) is calling on the federal government to revise its newly implemented GST policy, which continues to exempt alcohol from taxation while leaving cannabis products out.
The co-op, which represents BC's craft cannabis farmers, processors and retailers, argues that this policy unfairly favours alcohol, a substance that causes significant harm to Canadian society, over cannabis, which is legal and regulated.
“Alcohol contributes to tens of thousands of deaths in Canada each year and imposes an estimated $20 billion in annual societal costs, with health care costs alone surpassing $6 billion,” stated BCCFC president Tara Kirkpatrick in a press release. “Cannabis, on the other hand, does not carry the same societal harms. It's time for the government to treat cannabis more fairly and add it to the GST exempt list, especially as we head into the holiday season.”
Kirkpatrick operates BC Backwoods Bud in Prince George.
The BCCFC states it has long advocated for policies that promote the legal cannabis industry and reduce the stigma around cannabis use. The organization believes that the current GST policy undermines the progress made since cannabis legalization in 2018 and continues to support a disparity between alcohol and cannabis.
"Why is the government choosing to favour alcohol over cannabis businesses?" Kirkpatrick asked. "This policy doesn’t make sense, especially when you consider that cannabis has been medically approved for use by hundreds of thousands of Canadians for over two decades."
The co-op has urged the minister of finance to reconsider the decision and level the playing field for the legal cannabis industry. Kirkpatrick has sent a formal letter to the minister of finance, outlining these concerns and advocating for change.
