Premier Kathleen Wynne is demanding answers on why one of the Ontario government’s first cannabis stores will be located 450 metres from a school in a Gerrard St. plaza that includes a math tutoring centre and a children’s martial arts studio.“I’m actually going to be asking my staff about this — exactly how the decision was made and whether the school board was consulted,” Wynne told reporters Thursday at Mount Sinai Hospital.“My priority in the implementation of the federal government’s decision to legalize cannabis has been safety. It’s been safety and security particularly for young people,” the premier said.“I just want to know that the school board had input into it. I know there are a lot of factors and in Toronto there are 800 schools so there are schools in many, many, many neighbourhoods,” she said.“But I am going to ask a question about exactly how the decision was made.”Parents at Blantyre Public School, just south of the location at Victoria Park Ave. and Gerrard St. E., say they had no idea a cannabis outlet would open at the strip mall where many elementary and high school students go at lunchtime to get pizza or hamburgers from a number of fast-food outlets. “The issue was raised at (Wednesday night’s) council meeting,” said school council co-chair Garfield Richards. “It was the first time that parents, or at least the council, had a chance to digest that news and in terms of reaction … overall, they weren’t welcoming of the idea.”Richards said families want to know how it was chosen, and if there are any alternatives.“That just speaks to one of our concerns,” Richards said of the lack of information. “There isn’t the level of engagement there. It seems like a decision that was made removed from any of the key stakeholders in the community. “To me, that is very worrying.”The Ontario Cann ...
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