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th ei fp .c a Th e IF P -H al to n H ill s | T hu rs da y, Ja nu ar y 2, 20 20 | 6 ABOUT US This newspaper, published every Thursday, is a division of the Metroland Media Group Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Torstar Corporation. The Metroland family of newspapers is comprised of more than 80 community publications across Ontario. This newspaper is a member of the National NewsMedia Council. Complainants are urged to bring their concerns to the attention of the news- paper and, if not satisfied, write The National NewsMedia Council, Suite 200, 890 Yonge St., Toronto, ON M4W 2H2. Phone: 416-340-1981 Web: www.mediacouncil.ca newsroom@theifp.ca IndependentAndFreePress @IFP_11 WHO WE ARE Publisher Kelly Montague Regional General Manager Steve Foreman Regional Managing Editor Catherine O'Hara Managing Editor Karen Miceli Distribution Representative Iouliana Polar Real Estate Kristie Pells Regional Production Manager Manuel Garcia Production Shelli Harrison Halton Media General Manager Vicki Dillane CONTACT US The Independent & Free Press 280 Guelph Street, Unit 77 Georgetown, ON L7G 4B1 Phone: 905-873-0301 Classifieds: 1-800-263-6480 Fax: 905-873-0398 Letters to the editor All letters must be fewer than 320 words and include your name and telephone number for verification purposes. We reserve the right to edit, condense or reject letters. Published letters will appear in print and/or online at theifp.ca Delivery For all delivery inquiries, please e-mail lpolar@miltoncanadianchampion.com or call 905-234-1019. OPINION TO LEARN HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR OWN CONTENT VISIT THEIFP.CA EDITORIAL The Ontario government will be doing something it should have done a long time ago. It will scrap the prov- ince's controversial and infamously slow legal marijua- na licensing and retail system in favour of one that will allow a lot more retail outlets to open and quickly.Why it took this long is a mystery. The Ford government is notorious for moving slowly on files that need immediate fixes and recklessly on ones that call for a thoughtful approach. And the canna- bis distribution file has been in need of attention for a long time. Consider that Alberta, with a population of 4.4 mil- lion, has 254 cannabis stores. That figure for Alberta was from August of last year. Since then the provincial regulator has been approving stores at the rate of 20 or so per month. Now, consider that Ontario, with a pop- ulation of 14.5 million, has - wait for it - 25 retail outlets (more have been approved but are not up and running yet.) Having an adequate supply of cannabis retail outlets is not frivolous. A major part of the rationale for legal- ization is to dramatically reduce or even eliminate the black market for pot. Obviously, that cannot happen if there isn't adequate access to a legal supply. Which is why, in Ontario especially, the black market continues to thrive. Another key reason for legalization is consumer safety. Legal, regulated cannabis can be controlled at the source, ensuring more harmful ingredients are not add- ed in processing. So Ontario is lagging most of the rest of Canada. Not only that, it's losing money. That's right. The old saying about how the government can screw up just about any- thing has a new twist with news that the Ontario Canna- bis Retail Corp. (the Crown corporation charged with overseeing the market) lost $42 million for the year that ended March 31. The corporation says that loss isn't systemic, but was due to "considerable foundational investments." Maybe. But it's worth noting that New Brunswick, which lost $12 million in the first six months of last year on selling cannabis, is in the midst of privatizing the province's distribution system that was previously under the wing of a Crown corporation. In any case, Ontario isn't looking at full privatization, but only at dramatically increased distribution capacity. Announcing the changes, Attorney General Doug Dow- ney said retail authorization applications will be accept- ed beginning in March of this year. Store authorizations will start being issued in April, at a rate of about 20 per month - the same pace being set by Alberta. If all that goes according to plan, there could be close to 250 stores across Ontario by the end of 2020. That's still an inadequate supply given the size of Ontario's market, but it's a big improvement and is trending in the right direction. ONTARIO FINALLY FIXING OUR BROKEN CANNABIS SYSTEM If you think the magnet- ic North Pole is stationary, you're in for a surprise. Since 1831, the North Pole has been moving 2,250 kilometres. It's also mov- ing away from Canada to Siberia. That's the recent predic- tion by the World Magnetic Model 2020. For the past 20 years, the magnetic North Pole has moving at an average speed of 55 kilometres per year, but has been slowing to 40 kilometres per year. It's not entirely clear why it's moving but every five years the World Mag- netic Model monitors its change. The model helps organi- zations that depend on ac- curate readings. A wandering pole ef- fects surveying and map- ping, satellite/antenna tracking, navigation and air traffic management. Earth's magnetic poles are created by the flow of iron in the centre of our planet. The magnetic field cre- ates the northern lights and protects us from harmful cosmic radiation. Without this protective envelope, life wouldn't be possible. Here are January star- gazing events, which are listed in the Hamilton Ama- teur Astronomers calendar. Jan. 5 - Earth at perihe- lion and closest to the Sun for the entire year. Jan. 10 - Hamilton Ama- teur Astronomers meeting at McMaster Innovation Park, 175 Longwood Rd. S., Hamilton from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Free admission, door prizes and everybody wel- come. An optional food bank donation of non-perishable goods is collected and ap- preciated. Jan. 19 - Mars is close to the moon at sunrise. Jan. 22 - Jupiter is close to the moon at sunrise.Jan. 27 - Venus is extremely close to Neptune at dusk. Jan. 28 - Venus is close to the evening crescent moon. For more information, see the Hamilton Amateur Astronomers website at www.amateurastrono- my.org or call 905-627-4323. The club offers a basic astronomy course for members. Mario Carr is the club's director of publicity and can be reached at mario- carr@cogeco.ca. Twitter: @MarioCCarr OUR WANDERING MAGNETIC NORTH POLE IT'S MOVING MORE THAN YOU MAY THINK, WRITES MARIO CARR MARIO CARR Column SIGN UP FOR OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER AT THEIFP.CA