With the world adopting green policies and many countries looking towards 2035 as the year humanity breaks its dependency on fossil fuels, Alberta is looking for the next ‘something’ to restore its advantage.
Enter industrial hemp and in some places such as Fort Assiniboine, the possibility of medicinal marijuana.
The County of Barrhead co-hosted its second annual Harvesting Hemp seminar with TEC Edmonton Nov. 30 and invited a number of industry leaders to speak on a variety of topics including insurance options, carbon credit offset opportunities and legislation updates.
The biggest issue facing the burgeoning industry at the moment is the lack of availability of a local processing facility.
To date, according to Byron James of InnoTech, the only decortication plant in the province is located in Drayton Valley.
It is a problem that our local councils want to solve and they are looking to the Kiel Industrial Park as a possibility.
To be clear, we are talking industrial hemp with a total cannabinoid component of about 0.03 per cent — hemp is used to make textiles, automotive panels and building to name a few.
It is not just a Canadian standard, it is worldwide.
County councillors are not interested in the medicinal side of legalization.
Jake Burlet, TEC Edmonton’s executive-in-residence, asked seminar attendees one question, why would Barrhead not be the right fit for such an enterprise.
And it is a good question to ask.
We have the land required to service such a facility available and people who are willing to do the work.
Aside from a gravel operation and Northplex Homes, the county itself does not have much in the way of industry.
This has the potential to fit a niche, to solve a problem and provide people with employment opportunities.
Whether you agree with marijuana legalization or not, the truth is, if we don’t bring the hemp industry to our neighbourhood, our competitors will and they will leave us in the economic dust.
So the question is, why not Barrhead?
