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.