The MLA for Kamloops South, and opposition community affairs critic is wondering if there is a method to the madness of the glacial pace of provincial cannabis license approvals.

Todd Stone says not only does the province approve, or not, cannabis licenses, it is also competing for those same licenses and in some situations the same storefront as private business.

“One has to cynically wonder if the real motivation here on the part of John Horgan is to really drag his heels on the private side of the equation to give public, government owned stores, a very significant advantage both in locating sites and setting up the government stores around the province,” he said on the Woodford Show.

“If that is the case it is terribly unfair.”

Stone says it is troubling to hear business people in Kamloops waiting six, eight, and even ten months for provincial approvals as they bleed money for leases and other costs.

He says other provinces seem to have it figured out approving and opening cannabis businesses by the truck load.

Kamloops Mayor Ken Christian too says the province has to do a much better job approving legal cannabis licenses.