Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 2016-12-28, Page 88 Lucknow Sentinel • Wednesday, December 28, 2016 Medical pot released recommendations from task force Scott Dunn Owen Sound Sun Times The task force which stud- ied questions raised about regulated legal access to marijuana has a chapter on how medical marijuana use should be treated. It recommends maintain- ing the current, separate licensing system for possess- ing marijuana for medical purposes and for growing it, with some changes. It says the federal govern- ment should watch closely to ensure CBD -rich strains (as opposed to the high -inducing THC strains) of marijuana are available and reasonably affordable for patients, with regulations to give govern- ment teeth to ensure it is. This could include requiring licensed producers "to prior- itize supply for medical users or establishing price controls for medical users:' It recommends the gov- ernment review the rules that currently allow those with marijuana grow licences to designate others to grow for them. This is in response to law enforcement concerns that some people have been exploiting that exemption to supply drugs illegally, the report says. The majority of the task force members believed he government should deter- mine a timeframe for phasing out the provision to allow des- ignated growers "as the new system for non-medical uses of cannabis is established:' It proposes to tax medical and non-medical marijuana under the same tax system. By doing so, the report says, if cannabis- and cannabi- noid -based medicines qual- ify for FDA approval for pre- scription medications, they would be HST -exempt. And with a corresponding drug information number, they would become eligible for insurance coverage. The government should pro- mote and support pre -clinical and clinical research on the use of cannabis and cannabinoids for medical purposes to facili- tate these FDA designations. It should also help the medical community and patients learn more about appropriate medical canna- bis uses, the report said. The task force also recom- mends evaluating the medical marijuana access framework in five years. Postmedia photo Dr. Mark Ware looks on as the leader of the Federal task force on marijuana Anne McLellan speaks during a news conference in Ottawa, on Dec. 13, 2016. Group wants to sink the ship Norisle off Bruce Peninsula Denis Langlois Owen Sound Sun Times A local group of diving enthusiasts, dive shop own- ers and boat captains says it wants to "bring history home" to the tip of the Bruce Peninsula. The Tobermory Maritime Association is in the prelimi- nary stages of a plan to acquire the deteriorating S.S. Norisle and sink it in Little Cove for use as a dive site. The 70 -year-old vessel, which is now owned by Assiginack Township, trans- ported passengers and vehi- cles between Tobermory and Manitoulin Island from 1947 until the Chi-Cheemaun took over the seasonal ser- vice in 1974. "She's a part of our his- tory," Michael Marcotte, president of the association, said in an interview Tuesday. "If you think about Tober- mory with the diving that's here - both inside the national marine park and just outside of it - it's a museum. It's a maritime museum that sits at the bot- tom of the lake. 'And why not have a piece of history sitting in these waters rather than have it sent away to be scrapped? We'll lose a piece of our mar- itime heritage if we can't. So this is probably the best -case scenario of saving this piece of history; by putting her underwater." Marcotte said Assiginack Township council plans to scrap the Norisle but has agreed to give the local mari- time association three months to present a formal offer of purchase. He said the association intends to secure the neces- sary approvals to sink the vessel as a dive site before making the offer. "We don't want to bring a 215 -foot vessel back to Tobermory with nowhere to put her and nowhere to sink her. That would be quite the problem," he said. The Norisle was built in the Collingwood Shipyards in 1946. It was the first pas- senger steamship built in Canada after the Second World War. A year after the Norisle was retired from service, it was purchased by Assiginack Township for $1 and served as a floating museum and tourist attraction at Mani- towaning for more than three decades. In 2006, the lower hull of the Norisle flooded. After the water was pumped out and the vessel secured, Assiginack council debated what to do with the ship. Options included sell- ing it for scrap, finding another municipality to take it or sinking the ship for use as a scuba diving attraction. However, a group called the S.S. Norisle Steamship Society formed and announced its intention to save the vessel and turn it into a Great Lakes cruise ship. To date, those plans have not materialized. Last January, Assiginack Township petitioned the province to re -assume own- ership of the Norisle, which it said has outlived its useful life as a community/tourist attraction, and work with the society to see if the cruise ship proposal was viable. If not, it asked the province to remove the vessel from the Manitowaning waterfront. Alton Hobbs, chief admin- istrative officer of Assiginack, confirmed Tuesday that the township wants to offload the vessel to another party. He said the province has no interest in taking it back. The municipality, he said, is interested in hearing the Tobermory Maritime Asso- ciation's proposal. A spokesperson for the Norisle Steamship Society could not be reached Tues- day. An e-mail address for the group no longer works and no one answered the tel- ephone number listed on the society's website. Marcotte, the owner of Divers Den in Tobermory, said the maritime associa- tion, which formed in 1998, was responsible for the sink- ing of the Niagara II as a dive site off Little Cove in 1999. It looks after the moorings for five dive sites, including the Niagara II and Caroline Rose, outside of Fathom Five National Marine Park. He said the association has applied for permits from Fisheries and Oceans Can- ada and Transport Canada to use the Norisle as a dive site. He said it has also secured the support of MP Larry Miller, MPP Bill Walker and Saugeen First Nation Chief Lester Anoquot. The association asked for Northern Bruce Peninsula council's blessing at a meet- ing in late November. Coun- cil directed staff to write up an endorsement letter for its consideration. Shared photo A photo of the S.S. Norisle, taken by Michael Marcotte in the summer of 2016. Marcotte said if the asso- ciation secures all of the required approvals, it will need to raise roughly $150,000 to $200,000 in donations and grants to bring the Norisle back to Tobermory and sink it as a dive site. "We're calling it our pro- ject right now and the title of this project is Bringing His- tory Home: The Return of the S.S. Norisle;" he said. "It would be nice for Tobermory to have a new site that would bring more divers back to the area. There's a historical signifi- cance of this ship. That's probably the biggest thing:' Marcotte said one of the most noteworthy features of the Norisle is its triple - expansion steam engine, which is still part of the ship. The engine is the only one of its kind in existence, he said. It was supposed to go into a Royal Canadian Navy cor- vette, he said, but was instead put in the Norisle because the Second World War had come to an end. Many locals recognized by MPP Lisa Thompson's Remarkable Citizens Awards The nominations are in for the Huron -Bruce 5th Annual Remarkable Citizens Awards and 19 individuals from across the political riding were recognized by col- leagues, family and friends for their efforts and contri- butions within their communities. "I am so thrilled to continue this tradition and to kick off the New Year by recognizing these individu- als who have devoted so much of their time and energy to better our commu- nities," Thompson said in a media release. "The nomina- tions that poured in this year were wonderful examples of the sense of community spirit that can be found throughout Huron -Bruce" The Annual Remarkable Citizens Awards evening will be hosted by Huron -Bruce MPP Lisa Thompson on Jan. 4, 2017 at the Teeswater Town Hall during her annual New Year's Levee event. The event will begin at 7 p.m. and is open to everyone. If necessary, the snow date for the event will be Jan. 11, 2017. The Remarkable Citizens Awards are handed out each year to respected and dedi- cated community leaders, volunteers and residents who have made inspiring contributions within the rid- ing of Huron -Bruce. 2016 Remarkable Citizens Award recipients Vickie Cahill of Kincar- dine, Lynn Evans of Kincar- dine, Willa Schoffer of Kin- cardine, Blake Evans of Tiverton, Dave Bourne of Wingham, Mary Lou Bourne of Wingham, Tom Joyes of Goderich, Ed Luyten of Teeswater, Lucy Luyten of Teeswater, Christine Brandt of Walkerton, Mike Wagner of Walkerton, Bill Carroll of Walkerton, Edward J. (Ted) Cobean of Walkerton, Jac- quie Bishop of Bluevale, Aylmer Joyes of Sebringville, Bill Joyes of Sebringville, Verna Joyes of Sebringville, Kathy Nichol of Brussels, and Bonnie Sitter of Exeter.