Many municipalities in Manitoba are waiting for the smoke to clear before making a decision on whether to allow the sale of pot.

“There’s a lot of items that need to be looked at that the province still doesn’t have a lot of answers on,” said West St. Paul Mayor Bruce Henley.

He said his council hasn’t had a chance to discuss its options yet.

A survey was distributed by the Association of Manitoba Municipalities on behalf of the province on Dec. 6, requesting a yes or no from municipalities by 12 p.m. on Dec. 22.

“We have to have a discussion with our planning district just to see what our current zoning allows for,” said Henley.

West St. Paul isn’t the only undecided municipality.

CTV News reached out to Manitoba cities and RMs surrounding Winnipeg.

The undecided include Winkler, Selkirk, the RM of Springfield, East St. Paul and West St. Paul. Leaders from these communities echoed similar responses on why they’re undecided: there are still a lot of unknowns in terms of funding and zoning, council didn’t have enough time for discussion before the deadline, and they wanted more information before making a decision.

Some jurisdictions have agreed to allow marijuana sales, including Winnipeg, Brandon, Portage la Prairie, Morden, Thompson, The Pas, and the RM of Macdonald. Some of these communities still have questions but decided to give a preliminary yes.

Growth, Enterprise and Trade Minister Blaine Pedersen said in a statement: “The survey on cannabis legalization is entirely voluntary, in the spirit of ‘fair say’, to gather information for immediate-term planning purposes. We will continue to have open and ongoing dialogue with municipalities on the subject as we work to establish a competitive retail environment that creates economic opportunities at the local level.”

Premier Brian Pallister previously said the goal is to put the black market out of business and to make marijuana available for 90 per cent of Manitobans within a 30 minute drive.

If that’s the case, Henley can’t see his area becoming a hub.

“We are one minute away or less from the city of Winnipeg. We’re a community of 5,400 people, the City of Winnipeg is adjacent to us,” said Henley, “Why would someone be interested in setting up a shop in West St. Paul for cannabis sales when they can set it up in the City of Winnipeg?”

Henley said council will sit down in January to discuss what direction it plans on going in.

“Once we see what the regulations are, and who’s going to be allowed to sell the cannabis, then we can formulate a plan, and bring it to council for an actual resolution to see how we want to deal with this.”

Undecided municipalities CTV News spoke with said they will also be meeting in the new year to discuss their options.