How is Canada’s government bureaucrat’s strike affecting cannabis? – Hemp | weed | marijuana

Note: During the preparation of this article, the Public Service Alliance of Canada entered into a preliminary contractual agreement with the Treasury Board. However, this agreement does not apply to all striking workers.

How is the Canadian government bureaucrats’ strike affecting cannabis?

Canada is facing its biggest federal labor strike since 1991. The public sector union, which represents 155,000 bureaucrats, wants a 13.5% pay rise over three years (although they said nothing of the last three years of government-ordered shutdowns of the private sector has lost).

They also want to make work from home permanent and bonus payments for having to work after 4pm. Remember these folks failed to anticipate and mismanaged Canada’s post-Covid passport wave.

They also can’t handle an employment insurance arrears. Still, they want your money paid for “unconscious bias” training and a “social justice” fund, on top of all the time off and sick days they get.

The ongoing strike means military bases are without heat and water. On First Nation reservations (controlled by Ottawa), schools and health centers have been closed.

It also means that striking protesters are blocking roads and other infrastructure. So it’s clearly only a matter of days before the Trudeau administration implements the emergency law and freezes their bank accounts.

(Oh, this is just to protest WEF narratives? Okay, got it).

Not surprisingly, the bureaucrats’ strike has little support from average Canadians.

Under Justin Trudeau, the so-called “public sector” has an additional $20 billion. That’s an increase of 50%. The largest employer in Canada is the government. They have comfortable pensions and access to benefits that the private sector can only dream of.

Government services were closed because of the strike. But most Canadians haven’t even noticed the change. Whether open or closed, things continue as usual in the passport office.

But what about cannabis? How is the Canadian government bureaucrats’ strike affecting cannabis?

How is Canada’s government bureaucrat’s strike affecting cannabis?

Federal agencies control cannabis in Canada through Health Canada. So how is the bureaucrats’ strike affecting cannabis?

A Health Canada spokesperson told CLN, “Currently, some services related to cannabis regulation may experience some delays but will be maintained.”

They suggested that we check this site for updates.

Many producers will welcome a bureaucrat strike affecting cannabis. It would throw Ottawa off balance for a while.

As we mentioned earlier, we don’t really need Health Canada, particularly in relation to cannabis regulations. And this strike offers us an opportunity to revisit this issue on two fronts.

For one thing, regulation is not a “natural monopoly” that the government must pre-emptively control.

And second, why giving more tax dollars to bureaucrats doesn’t help the economy. (In fact, it is harmful and distorts productive private enterprise).

So let’s attack these two positions head-on. As we shall see, Canada does not need government regulation of cannabis, whether the bureaucratic strike involves cannabis or not.

Bureaucrats Strike Affecting Cannabis? You better hope not

The striking bureaucrat better hopes the strike doesn’t involve cannabis. It could finally bring Canada’s cannabis community together and stand up to government encroachment.

In the meantime, consider what Health Canada is doing. Ask yourself: does this regulation encourage crony capitalism or provide health and safety for Canadians?

licensing

Health Canada is not an accrediting agency operating in an open, competitive marketplace. They have no incentive to provide quality (or even substandard) services to their “customers”.

They cannot spontaneously adapt and change to new market conditions and technological developments. The “customers” cannot withdraw their financial support if they are dissatisfied with the services.

Health Canada does not have the same freedom as the private sector to experiment and try new approaches. Nor is Health Canada free from political involvement such as corruption and rent-seeking.

Take a look at how Health Canada – as directed by the federal agency – has handled cannabis licensing. Former cops and politicians came first while BC Bud’s farming community was “organized crime” until they finally got around to issuing “micro” licenses.

Monitoring and Enforcement

In Canada’s cannabis community, there’s a certain split between “corporate” guys trying to play by the rules and the “illegal” element claiming the other side is sold out.

However, both groups regularly criticize Health Canada’s regulation of cannabis. If the bureaucrats’ strike involved cannabis, these two groups would likely draw closer together.

As George Smitherman told CLN, if you decide to play by the rules and get a license, “regulators and lawmakers have nothing but attention for you.”

Again, we can see how private certification and accreditation can perform third-party verification to ensure compliance.

In addition, private arbitration can resolve disputes and enforce contractual obligations. Most industries already use private dispute resolution mechanisms outside of state courts.

A dispute resolution body can be tailored to the specific needs of the cannabis industry.

quality control

At this point, shouldn’t the burden of proof be on those who advocate government bureaucracy? Between the history books and the basics of economics, anyone who denies the efficiency of markets is an ideologue.

Pierre-Joseph “Property is theft” Proudhon also made peace with markets. (Or at least a more nuanced approach to capitalism).

Suppose the Canadian government bureaucracy’s strike would affect cannabis.

Taxpayers would no longer be responsible for ensuring that Canada’s cannabis products meet certain standards. We would shift the cost onto cannabis companies and consumers.

As with the actual stakeholders in the industry. The companies that don’t want to sell cannabis laden with heavy metals and solvents. And the consumers who don’t want to buy cannabis with these contaminants.

public education

If the government bureaucrats’ strike involved cannabis, Canadians would no longer be exposed to misinformation about cannabis’ alleged links to mental health problems.

Without Health Canada, Canadians might learn that cannabis—rather than causing it—actually helps relieve anxiety and schizophrenia.

Bureaucrats Strike Affecting Cannabis? Bring it on

Photo by Jean Levac/Ottawa Citizen

The federal bureaucrats’ strike, whether it concerns cannabis or not, is an excellent opportunity to highlight the union’s bad economic case.

Consider the main reason for wanting more of your money:

Wages spent by public sector workers find their way into the productive economy rather than being diverted as private corporate profits.

Or that when the “public sector” is paid well and receives all kinds of benefits and high pensions, it kind of encourages the private sector to do the same.

As if it were government employees who determine our standard of living. That without them these evil capitalists would make us work 15+ hours a day for pennies and scraps of bread.

But consider the union’s rejection of savings and investment as engines of growth. They believe that the consuming public drives the economy; ergo, it is morally permissible to steal money from “hoarders” and give it to people who spend it.

To make this argument you must ignore the following:

Wealth Building

Savings and investments enable the accumulation of capital goods that are essential to a healthy economy. You can’t get consumer goods without machinery, equipment and investments in infrastructure.

And capital is constantly decaying; it requires care.

Capital increases the efficiency and productivity of labor. This leads to higher production and economic growth.

R&D

Research and development of savings and investment funds. If we had adopted union economics in the 1980s, our cell phones would still be the size of bricks.

(Assuming the supply chain hasn’t completely collapsed as everyone goes out and spends 100% of their income instead of saving or investing.)

entrepreneurship

reject statistic. Read Rothbard.

Entrepreneurs, especially young ones just starting out without much capital, need to save every dollar they can.

It’s bad enough that the Canadian government is undermining them with capital gains taxes and other excessive methods to extract wealth and ensure the nation’s productivity remains low.

And then, on top of that, to take their profits and redistribute them to federal bureaucrats who spend them on consumer goods?

Most Canadians haven’t heard of Murray Rothbard. But if there was one group that needed his books more than anyone else, it would be these striking federal bureaucrats.

Every dollar saved is a dollar released from consumption and thus (ceteris paribus) an increase in capital; and it is capital that determines the wage supply, the rate of return on capital, and the growth rate of the economy.