Pubdate: Thu, 30 Jun 2011 Source: Outlook, The (CN BC) Copyright: 2011 Black Press Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/MRtUjxYF Website: http://www.bclocalnews.com/greater_vancouver/northshoreoutlook/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1433 Author: Sean Kolenko - North Shore Outlook 'THIS COMES DOWN TO PROCESS' It sparked an interest in District of North Vancouver municipal politics unlike many other issues. But the process by which the district handled the now forbidden medicinal marijuana dispensary planned for Deep Cove was prejudiced and didn't ensure a transparent discussion, concerned residents say. "There was this presumption of just a negative feeling and I do not believe that represents the district," said longtime resident Joyce Gee. "This isn't just about a council that decided to take a conservative approach rather than a compassionate one, this comes down to process." Gee's comments come in the wake of district's decision last week to pass a quickly drawn bylaw prohibiting a marijuana dispensary from opening on Mt. Seymour Parkway. Of particular interest to Gee, however, is not just the bylaw but the way in which residents were urged to attend a special council meeting on June 14. Gee told The Outlook that while on holiday in May, she received an email from another district resident titled "marijuana dispensary - opposition voices needed." Gee said the resident who passed along the email had received a call from Coun. Doug MacKay-Dunn, a vocal opponent of the dispensary, urging her to tell others to write emails voicing their opposition. While agreeing with the need to get involved, Gee felt MacKay-Dunn "stepped over the line" by using his stature in the community to cultivate explicitly negative voices. Opinions, she said, are vital but urging one side over another means any discussion about the issue would be tainted. Couple that with a bylaw written by the time the special council meeting was held and Gee said the discussion had a very distinct direction to it. "If the process was handled differently we may have gotten some of the letters, but would we have gotten a different result?" she asked. "And if the bylaw wasn't formulated, how would that have changed things? We should have come out of that meeting with ideas, not just a motion." In an interview with The Outlook on Tuesday -- council was unable to discuss the bylaw until final adoption on Monday -- MacKay-Dunn confirmed he sent emails to residents about the issue but denied urging only naysayers to share their feelings. On July 11, three days before council met with the public to discuss the dispensary, MacKay-Dunn said he told marijuana activist Dana Larsen to ensure voices of support were present as well. MacKay-Dunn made no secret he does not support dispensaries and does not believe it is a municipality's job to approve them. The federal government, he said, is the level of government that should dictate how medicinal marijuana is administered. And that isn't a vote of confidence for those in Ottawa and their medical marijuana program, he said. After learning about the issues faced by those attempting to access their medicine from the federal system, MacKay-Dunn said an overhaul is clearly needed. But for a distinctly residential neighbourhood to accept a dispensary, residents and council need more time to evaluate the pros and cons of such an establishment. Council, he said, learned of the dispensary through the media and that didn't help the case for a dispensary. "There are clear land use implications in this situation, and there should have been more reaching out to the community done," he said. "But that abuse of process got me started. And whenever the community is disrespected they will have to deal with me and I will not mince words." - --- MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.