IN PHOTOS Northern lights dance across the night sky in southern Ont.
From London, to Mildmay, Collingwood and St. Thomas, here are some highlights of Friday night and Saturday morning's northern lights display.
Canada's competition watchdog is putting its weight behind some longtime cannabis industry asks including easing restrictions on cannabis packaging and adjusting limits on how much of pot's psychoactive component can be in edible products.
In a submission to Health Canada and a panel reviewing cannabis legislation published Friday, the Competition Bureau positioned changing tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) limits and giving pot companies more freedoms around packaging and marketing as a way to boost competition.
"The bureau believes that stronger competition in the cannabis industry would help foster innovation and benefit consumers by providing them with increased choice and quality," it wrote in its submission.
"Importantly, these benefits would serve to further displace illicit market activity and bolster the legal cannabis industry."
A 2022 survey from Health Canada found nearly half of the 10,048 respondents who used cannabis in the past year purchased the substance exclusively from legal sources, an increase from 43 per cent in 2021.
Some believe the true share of the illicit market is higher because of the stigma around revealing cannabis use.
Pot producers and shops have long felt THC and packaging changes would chisel away at the market share illicit sellers have and help them reduce the hefty number of layoffs, facility closers and writedowns they've taken in recent years to keep their businesses afloat.
Their calls for change have grown in recent months after Ottawa launched a review last year of the Cannabis Act, which set purchase and possession limits and established safety requirements for growing, selling and transporting the substance.
When legalization legislation came into effect in 2018, it prevented cannabis products from being packaged in a way that is enticing to youths and limited THC in edibles to 10 mg per package. Illicit products often exceed the limit.
Stakeholders have told the bureau increasing the limit to 100 mg "could make edible cannabis products more appealing to consumers, especially those currently sourcing them from the illicit market."
The bureau suggested easing restrictions on cannabis promotion, packaging and labelling would also give producers more room to innovate and help consumers make more informed purchasing decisions.
To comply with regulations, most pot companies package their products in staid, black or white containers devoid of eye-catching branding, which could help differentiate one product from another.
The bureau also took aim at the cannabis licensing process and compliance costs, suggesting they be made "minimally intrusive to competition, where possible."
The process currently requires cannabis producers to have facilities nearly completed -- a process often costing millions -- before they can receive licenses. Then, there are "lengthy and costly" security requirements and annual regulatory fees.
"By minimizing the regulatory burden of the licensing process and reducing compliance costs, where possible, decision-makers can reduce barriers to entry and expansion, as well as stimulate even more effective competition," said the Bureau.
Rounding out its recommendations was a suggestion regarding excise duties, an area outside of the panel reviewing the act's purview.
The duties are imposed on products when they're delivered to buyers. For dried and fresh cannabis, plants and seeds, they amount to the higher of $1 per gram or a 10 per cent per gram fee.
For edibles, extracts and topicals, it's a flat rate based on the number of milligrams of total THC in the product. There are additional duties in Alberta, Nunavut, Ontario and Saskatchewan.
The total amount of unpaid cannabis excise duties has risen since legalization, the bureau said. As of September 2022, 66 per cent of licensees required to remit excise duties had an outstanding debt with the Canada Revenue Agency, the bureau said.
"Many stakeholders interviewed by the bureau raised Canada's excise duty framework -- and excise duty rates specifically -- as a major barrier to competition in the cannabis industry," the submission said.
"These stakeholders told the bureau that the current excise duty regime makes profitability and viability in the industry very challenging."
Canopy Growth Corp., a Smiths Falls, Ont. cannabis company, welcomed the Bureau's recommendations, chief executive David Klein said.
He found the suggestions mirror many of the industry's pleas.
"Legal producers need to be able to deliver the range of formats and potency that consumers are looking for to compete with the illicit market and support a sustainable cannabis industry in Canada," he said in a statement.
"It's equally critical that restrictions on engagement with consumers be revised to facilitate informed purchasing decisions and we hope government will act swiftly on these recommendations as time is of the essence."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 26, 2023.
From London, to Mildmay, Collingwood and St. Thomas, here are some highlights of Friday night and Saturday morning's northern lights display.
For decades, North Bay, Ontario's water supply has harboured chemicals associated with liver and developmental issues, cancer and complications with pregnancy. It's far from the only city with that problem.
The Netherlands' contestant in the Eurovision Song Contest was dramatically expelled from competition hours before Saturday's final of the pan-continental pop competition, which has been rattled by protests over the participation of Israel.
The rolling hills leading to the hamlet of Rosebud are dotted with sprawling farms and cattle pastures -- and a sign sporting a simple message: No Race Track.
An evacuation alert was issued for two Wood Buffalo communities Friday night, as crews battled an out-of-control wildfire near Fort McMurray.
Evan Bouchard scored 5:38 into overtime and the Edmonton Oilers bounced back for a 4-3 win over the Vancouver Canucks in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs on Friday.
Irresponsibly using a credit card can land you in financial trouble, but personal finance columnist Christopher Liew says when used properly, it can be a powerful wealth-building tool that can help grow your credit profile and create new opportunities.
A cyclist turned herself in and received a fine after striking a four-year-old girl who was crossing the street to catch a school bus.
Where you live plays a big factor in what you pay at the grocery store. And while it's no secret the same item may have a different price depending on the store, city or province, we wanted to see just how big the differences are, and why.
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.
A small Ajax dessert shop that recently received a glowing review from celebrity food critic Keith Lee is being forced to move after a zoning complaint was made following the social media influencer’s visit last month.
The Canada Science and Technology Museum is inviting visitors to explore their poop. A new exhibition opens at the Ottawa museum on Friday called, 'Oh Crap! Rethinking human waste.'
The Regina Police Service says it is the first in Saskatchewan and possibly Canada to implement new technology in its detention facility that will offer real-time monitoring of detainees’ vital health metrics.
The stakes have been set for a bet between Vancouver and Edmonton's mayors on who will win Round 2 of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
A grieving mother is hosting a helmet drive in the hopes of protecting children on Manitoba First Nations from a similar tragedy that killed her daughter.
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
A P.E.I. lighthouse and a New Brunswick river are being honoured in a Canada Post series.