Tag: Cannabis

• With privatization of cannabis, criminal element has scored with Ford

  Toronto – OPSEU President Warren (Smokey) Thomas is expressing outrage over media reports that Premier Doug Ford will allow cannabis sales in private stores. “What on earth are they smoking at Queen’s Park?” Thomas asked. “This would be a bonanza for organized crime. They could legitimately get licences to distribute cannabis – and get very…

  July 27, 2018

  Bargaining, Campaigns, Media

  Cannabis, Fighting Privatization, Media release, We Own It

• ‘All tip and no iceberg’: Thomas talks about Doug Ford and cannabis

  Jay Rosenthal, host of “Quick Hits: The Business of Cannabis,” follows up with Warren (Smokey) Thomas, President of OPSEU, on PC leader Doug Ford’s recent proposal to allow the private sector to sell alcohol and cannabis. {“fid”:”34494″,”view_mode”:”default”,”fields”:{“format”:”default”,”filename_field[en][0][value]”:”BofC // Quick Hits with Smokey Thomas, President, OPSEU”},”type”:”media”,”field_deltas”:{“1”:{“format”:”default”,”filename_field[en][0][value]”:”BofC // Quick Hits with Smokey Thomas, President, OPSEU”}},”attributes”:{“alt”:”BofC // Quick…

  March 21, 2018

  Bargaining, Campaigns, Media

  Cannabis, Fighting Privatization, OPSEU in the News, We Own It

• Thomas to Ford: Stop talking. Start listening.

  Toronto – OPSEU President Warren (Smokey) Thomas is expressing disgust at the arrogant and high handed way Doug Ford is behaving, months before voters have even had their say. “He's already acting like he’s premier, but he is spouting off about privatizing the sale of alcohol and cannabis, without giving any thought to the consequences,”…

  March 13, 2018

  Campaigns, Media

  Cannabis, Fighting Privatization, Media release, We Own It

• OPSEU President reacts to Doug Ford’s comments on cannabis

  OPSEU President Warren (Smokey) Thomas gave an interview to Ottawa radio station CFRA on Tuesday about comments that Progressive Conservative leader Doug Ford made about the possibility of privatizing the sale of legalized cannabis and taking away any government control. Listen to the interview here.

  March 13, 2018

  Campaigns, Media

  Cannabis, Fighting Privatization, OPSEU in the News, We Own It

• Thomas to Ford: ‘Shoot-from-the-hip approach to public policy is irresponsible’

  Toronto ­ ­- OPSEU President Warren (Smokey) Thomas said on Tuesday that Doug Ford’s comments on a radio show suggesting that government should take a hands off approach to cannabis sales are irresponsible. “You’re playing in the big leagues now Doug, that means you can’t just make up policy as you go along,” said Thomas.…

  March 13, 2018

  Bargaining, Campaigns, Media

  Cannabis, Fighting Privatization, Media release, We Own It

• Thomas: ‘Privatization pusher’ Ed Clark can’t be trusted with alcohol and cannabis sales

  Toronto – Putting the architect of hydro privatization in charge of alcohol and cannabis sales will be a financial and public health disaster, says OPSEU President Warren (Smokey) Thomas. “Ed Clark has always put profits before people,” says Thomas. “Giving him the keys to the LCBO will be a huge boon for Bay Street, but…

  January 18, 2018

  Campaigns, Media

  Cannabis, Fighting Privatization, Media release, We Own It

• Scott Thompson: Other unions could learn a lot from Smokey

  OPSEU President Warren (Smokey) Thomas was on Hamilton talk radio this week to chat with CHML-AM's Scott Thompson about how selling cannabis through the LCBO will affect cannabis retail workers. Click here to read the online story, then scroll down to hear the interview, which starts at 18:31 of Thompson's podcast.

  Andy Pedersen

  September 12, 2017

  Bargaining, Campaigns, Media

  Cannabis, Fighting Privatization, OPSEU in the News, We Own It

• OPSEU talks about Ontario pot shop employees and NPCA toxic workplace

  OPSEU President Warren (Smokey) Thomas appeared on the Larry Fedoruk radio show on Newstalk 610 CKTB in the Niagara region to discuss the sale of cannabis through the LCBO, and the toxic workplace at the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority. To listen to the audio clip, click here.

  Andy Pedersen

  September 12, 2017

  Bargaining, Campaigns, Health and Safety, Media

  Cannabis, Fighting Privatization, OPSEU in the News, We Own It

• Ontario’s pot plan a blow to dispensaries, but a boon for the public-service union

  The president of the public sector union expects the sale of recreational marijuana to create about 2,000 new public sector jobs in Ontario in the next three or four years. Read the entire article in the National Post. Related: OPSEU in the News

  September 8, 2017

  Bargaining, Campaigns, Media

  Cannabis, Fighting Privatization, OPSEU in the News, We Own It

• OPSEU applauds ‘prudent plan’ for cannabis sales

  Toronto – The Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) is congratulating the provincial Liberal government for its decision to sell recreational cannabis in government-run retail stores. “Today’s announcement is what we have been calling for since the legalization debate began,” OPSEU President Warren (Smokey) Thomas said. “We have said from the start that the way…

  Andy Pedersen

  September 8, 2017

  Campaigns, Media

  Cannabis, Fighting Privatization, Media release, We Own It

• OPSEU’s position on cannabis legalization in Ontario

  OPSEU has submitted a position paper in response to the Ontario government’s open consultation on cannabis legalization. Read the document here.

  Andy Pedersen

  August 1, 2017

  Bargaining, Campaigns

  Cannabis, Fighting Privatization, We Own It

• OPSEU sparks conversation on ‘Liquor and Cannabis Control Board of Ontario’

  Toronto – The President of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union is calling on the province to embrace public retailing of cannabis and create a new “Liquor and Cannabis Control Board of Ontario,” or LCCBO. “When the LCBO was created, it was a revolutionary innovation designed to regulate the legal consumption of a problematic substance…

  Andy Pedersen

  April 21, 2017

  Bargaining, Campaigns, Media

  Cannabis, Media release

• Base cannabis retailing on facts, not feelings: Thomas

  Toronto – Provinces should base their plans for retailing cannabis on scientific evidence, not their feelings about the drug, the President of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union says. “Reading the report of the federal task force on cannabis today, it seems that the task force, overall, opposes selling liquor and cannabis out of the…

  Andy Pedersen

  December 13, 2016

  Bargaining, Campaigns, Media

  Cannabis, Fighting Privatization, Media release, We Own It

• Why should liquor control boards manage weed sales? They already know how

  Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne said the provincial liquor control board is the best way to sell pot. Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger made the same comment three weeks earlier. Ontario and B.C.’s government employees union have also called for it to be sold through existing liquor retailers. Read the full article in The Globe and Mail.

  December 17, 2015

  Campaigns

  Cannabis, Fighting Privatization, We Own It

• Wynne backs Thomas on pot sales in LCBO

  (TORONTO) – OPSEU President Warren (Smokey) Thomas says Premier Kathleen Wynne is doing the right thing by limiting marijuana sales to the LCBO if the federal government makes them legal. Wynne echoes a recommendation that Thomas made three weeks ago. “Marijuana must be a controlled substance, and no one has more experience retailing controlled substances…

  December 14, 2015

  Campaigns, Media

  Cannabis, Fighting Privatization, Media release, We Own It

• Twenty sack with your twenty sixer? Yes says LCBO union head (Windsor Independent)

  If Warren ‘Smokey’ Thomas gets his way, recreational cannabis will be sold through the LCBO, and as president of the largest public service union in Ontario, his proposal carries weight. Read the full articile from the Windsor Independent. Related: OPSEU in the News

  December 8, 2015

  Campaigns, Media

  Cannabis, Fighting Privatization, OPSEU in the News, We Own It