Queen’s park catch-up

Ford wins PC leadership, LCBO releases cannabis store branding

Image supplied by: Supplied by Wikimedia
Queen's Park in Toronto.

Doug Ford narrowly wins PC leadership race

After a chaotic leadership election, Toronto businessman and former city councillor Doug Ford won the Ontario Progressive Conservative leadership race on Saturday night. 

A leadership contest was triggered a month and a half ago, following former PC leader Patrick Brown’s resignation over allegations of sexual misconduct. 

Ford beat out former MPP Christine Elliot, Caroline Mulroney and Tanya Granic Allen for the nomination. 

Following the announcement of Ford’s win late Saturday night, Elliot refused to concede the victory. According to The Toronto Star, an email statement from Elliot’s campaign on Sunday cited “serious irregularities” throughout the leadership election. 

According to the statement, Elliot won the popular vote and the majority of ridings. On Sunday, she backtracked on this statement and conceded the nomination.

Ford has spent his first week as PC leader speaking to media about his goals if elected. Ford told reporters on Monday he would scrap the Liberal’s revised sex-ed curriculum. 

He also mentioned Tuesday that he opposes the Liberal government’s monopoly framework for cannabis distribution and favours an open market. 

LCBO releases cannabis retail logo, pundits underwhelmed

Last week, the Liquor Control Board of Ontario released its retail branding for the ‘Ontario Cannabis Store.’ According to an LCBO statement, the cost of the branding for the new chain was roughly $650,000.

Following the Liberal government’s pledge to legalize cannabis federally, the provinces were given the opportunity to establish distribution frameworks for legalization. 

Ontario has chosen a similar framework to what already exists for alcohol — a government regulated monopoly.

LCBO’s statement about the branding explained “the name is designed to convey a safe, simple and approachable environment for consumers, and agency employees, in a clear and easily understood manner.”

The new logo for the Ontario Cannabis Store has received “mixed reactions” from industry leaders and Twitter users since it’s launch. One Twitter user said the design is “lacking a bit in creativity.” 

Others however, have been more receptive to the simplistic look. John Fowler, CEO and Founder of Supreme Cannabis told Global News, “I think a lot of people who are looking for a brand to be an exciting name and an exciting logo are underwhelmed by what the Ontario government provided.”

“I actually think that if the stores roll out with the same kind of quality and social responsibility strategy that you see with alcohol in Ontario, down the road we could be saying OCS and conjuring the same kind of images as when we say LCBO today,” he continued.

 

Tags

cannabis, Doug Ford, LCBO, Queen's Park

All final editorial decisions are made by the Editor(s)-in-Chief and/or the Managing Editor. Authors should not be contacted, targeted, or harassed under any circumstances. If you have any grievances with this article, please direct your comments to journal_editors@ams.queensu.ca.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Skip to content