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The Ford government and its online marijuana retailer refuse to provide basic factual information about the staffing levels of the Ontario Cannabis Store and its warehouse, which raises questions about the reasons for its delays in sending pot.
All of Ontario's legal weeds are stored in a warehouse, operated by a private limited company under contract with Ontario Cannabis Store, in a place kept secret for obvious security reasons.
The province's weed retailer struggled to handle the volume of 150,000 orders placed the week after legalization, with many delays reported. CBC News has therefore tried to determine whether the lack of staff contributed to these delays, which officials blame for high and unexpected demand.
Neither the Minister of Finance nor the Ontario Cannabis Store (OCS) will say how people can work at the warehouse or for this entire state corporation.
"I know that there are always problems [with shipments] but I'm very confident, in fact, that the Ontario Cannabis Store is doing it, it's a whole new business, "said Finance Minister Vic Fedeli.
Asked about the workforce, Fedeli said the issue should be addressed to OCS.
This image provided by the OCS shows the store's distribution center. The OCS website indicates that the pot will be delivered by Canada Post in single packages. (Submitted: Ontario Cannabis Store)
On Thursday morning, CBC News asked OCS representatives how many people were employed by the agency and what was the approximate number of positions occupied by staff, such as customer service, storekeepers, IT staff, and staff. direction.
The agency did not provide figures at the end on Friday.
"Efficiency gains and ways to further increase the capacity of OCS distribution facilities have been put in place to meet the demand," said the director of communications of the OCS. agency, Daffyd Roderick, in an email.
On the other hand, the BC The Liquor Distribution Directorate provided details of its cannabis workforce after a few hours.
The branch indicated that it employs approximately 100 warehouse employees in its distribution center to receive shipments and package orders for online customers. Another 30 people work in its customer service center. He also employs four managers and 18 cannabis consultants in his only store in Kamloops.
Prime Minister Doug Ford's government has entrusted the operation of the warehouse to a private company, but will not name it.
The company is a "third party logistics company [that] specializes in operating distribution centers and e-commerce execution services and has extensive experience working with major retailers in North America, "Roderick said in an email.
The product's pallets are photographed at the Ontario Cannabis Store in an undated photo. (The Canadian Press / Submitted by Ontario Cannabis Store)
"For security reasons, the OCS will not provide any additional details about the location or operations of the third-party distribution center."
It is also difficult to know how this company got the contract.
OCS indicates that the company was retained "through a competitive process". But there is no public record indicating that the contract was awarded for an open tender.
"This warehouse and distribution system have been the subject of a secret bidding call, a secret contract," said OPSEU President Smokey Thomas on Friday.
Thomas stated that he wanted to make it clear to the public that a private sector company was dealing with pot distribution and that his union did not represent people working for Ontario Cannabis. Store.
"Doug Ford has privatized it, so it's a privatized institution that has wreaked havoc in the distribution of cannabis," he said.
"We are fiercely opposed to privatization, because every taxpayer scandal in Ontario has involved the private sector, every single one of them."
A female worker examines cannabis products at the Ontario Cannabis Store on an undated photo. (THE CANADIAN PRESS)
CBC News has requested an interview Friday with the Ontario Cannabis Store CEO, Patrick Ford, about the company's workforce, the purchase of the warehouse contract and the pot request since the day of legalization. The request was refused.
"We are not conducting interviews at this time," said Amanda Winton, Communications Manager at OCS, in an email.
The SCO is a Crown corporation with a board of directors appointed by the Cabinet. This is similar to the province's three major Crown agencies: LCBO, Ontario Lottery and Gaming, and Ontario Power Generation.
The previous Liberal government had planned to maintain monopoly control of all recreational weed sales through an LCBO managed retail group.
The PCs have abandoned the plan and will instead allow private companies to set up canvases, starting April 1st.
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