Once cannabis shops are licensed to operate in the City of Langford, councillors want the operators to help pay for a community liaison bylaw officer.
Langford Councillor Lillian Szpak says council is looking for ways to mitigate costs the community might incur with the arrival of the new businesses.
" We thought that we would probably need a liaison bylaw officer, we might have to increase our RCMP. We're not sure how this is going to look in terms of having to enforce the rules and regulations that are going to be part of the provincial package, and the federal package of legalization of cannabis."
Langford submitted a list of candidates for the position to the province in August, well before the official cannabis legalization date on October 17, but have yet to hear back.
Szpak calls Langford's approach to cannabis shops "groundbreaking" and notes other communities are now trying to mirror Langford.
So far no retailers have been approved to open yet on Vancouver Island.
A provincial government list updated on December 24th shows just 4 private retailers in B.C. One was just approved for Vancouver, two are in Kimberley and one is in Pouce Coupe. Currently Kamloops has the only provincially-run facility.