P rime Minister Trudeau’s legacy legislation legalizing weed is going to happen, but the stakes are high, but the fact that this is a transformative initiative isn’t really in doubt even with meddling senators, confusing laws and troubling new health research. Trudeau’s marijuana reforms are undeniably bold and a done deal, leaving the provinces to figure out the details and set guidelines on regulating sales. “Ottawa has just very conveniently said, ‘We’ll legalize cannabis, you prov- inces figure out how to do it,’ ” says Blaine Pedersen, the growth, enterprise and trade minister in Manitoba’s Con- servative government. Legalizing pot is a defining element in Trudeau’s persona, too. He announced his intention in B.C. in the summer of 2013—his first major policy pledge as Liberal leader. “Tax it, regulate,” he said then and is doing now as leader.
I f you are looking for a place to get away to this summer be prepared to spend more on that new summer home by the water, cottage at the lake, camp or cabin in the woods this season. While home values and sales activity in Canada’s largest urban markets have softened, demand for recreational properties remains robust in most regions, believe it or not the average price of a recreational home in Canada is expected to rise 5.8 per cent to $467,764 by the end of Sep- tember, according to a new survey by Royal LePage. Retiring baby boomers and gen-Xers are driving up recre- ational home prices as they look for retirement and second- ary homes to raise children.
in Toronto and Vancouver showed that home sales in those cities fell last month. The Greater Toronto Area saw a drop of more than 22 percent compared to a year ago, while Metro Vancouver experienced a decline of more than 35 per cent in the same time period. But about 42 per cent of the advisers surveyed by Royal LePage said they thought recreational housing sales would increase in their region by the end of cottage season this year, compared to the same period last year.
The news comes after data released from real estate boards
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JUNE 2018 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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