A top marijuana expert at the accounting firm MNP expects big things from the emerging cannabis industry, but he cautions against marking the first of July as the big day for cannabis.

Photo Credit: KelownaNow

“Bill C-45 is going to be dragging itself through the senate,” said Peter Guo, who leads the firm’s Enterprise Risk Services in BC.  

Guo was one of three speakers on the topic of cannabis to address the Kelowna Chamber of Commerce today. 

MNP has done work for more than 115 Cannabis companies.  Guo said there are opportunities to get in front of the crowd on things like branding.   “Who’s going to be the Nike Swoosh of the Cannabis industry?” 

Photo Credit: KelownaNow

“It’s like a switch that’s going to flip,” said David Cram, a professor in Okanagan College’s Faculty of Business.  Cram illustrated the size of the Cannabis business by comparing to the BC grape industry.  As of 2012 BC grapes injected about $60M into the economy, while Cannabis contributed 5 Billion.  And Cram points out Canada has a chance to lead.

“We are the first developed country in the world to legalize,” said Cram.

Lawyer David Brown, from Kent Employment Law,  had a few words of caution for the business crowd. He said it should be made clear to employees that only people with disabilities would be entitled to bring it to work.

“As employers, we should be treating workplace cannabis in exactly the same way we treat alcohol abuse,” said Brown.