Local, out-of-province firms fired up about selling weed to Manitobans

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This article was published 08/11/2017 (2911 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A diverse range of businesses are enthusiastically accepting the Manitoba government’s invitation to apply to operate legal marijuana stores in the province.

Tuesday’s announcement that the private sector will be responsible for retailing cannabis in Manitoba attracted immediate interest from would-be weed-store operators. Those hopefuls have already been excluded from operating retail cannabis sales in Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, which plans to restrict the sale of legal marijuana exclusively to government-owned stores. New Brunswick is taking a similar approach and Quebec is expected to adopt a public-sector sales model as well.

“I had a feeling Manitoba was going to go against the grain,” said Clint Younge, CEO of MMJ Canada dispensaries, who plans to respond to the request for proposals.

MMJ Canada operates retail marijuana dispensaries in British Columbia and Ontario. Some of the company’s B.C. locations are municipally licensed to sell cannabis, Younge said. The Ontario locations are not.

“We’re fighting for regulations in a grey market,” Younge said.

If Manitoba were to allow MMJ Canada to operate as a private retailer, Younge said, Manitobans could expect wellness-focused dispensaries with a focus on compassion and mental health.

Tokyo Smoke, a cannabis-lifestyle brand that operates four marijuana accessory stores in Toronto, also plans to respond to the RFP, CEO and co-founder Alan Gertner said.

Manitoba’s decision open up marijuana sales to the private sector “gives me comfort that we have the opportunity, as Canadians, to lead the world in cannabis retail,” Gertner said, describing potential Tokyo Smoke cannabis stores as “a unique, engaging, approachable, delightful retail experience.”

National Access Cannabis, which operates a medical cannabis clinic on Broadway and has partnered with the Opaskwayak Cree Nation, will also be throwing its hat in the ring.

“This is a fantastic opportunity for the Manitoba First Nations community to build out and operate these legal retail dispensaries on both urban and First Nations sites throughout the province,” Chief Christian Sinclair said in a press release.

Winnipeg’s Delta 9 Cannabis, a federally licensed producer of cannabis for medical users, has announced a partnership with Canopy Growth Corp. to pitch retail cannabis stores to the Manitoba government. (Ontario-based Canopy Growth, which holds a number of cannabis-production licences through its subsidiary companies, is Canada’s most valuable legal marijuana producer by market capitalization.)

Delta 9 CEO John Arbuthnot said the stores would be clean, well-appointed and “certainly professional.”

The stores would sell marijuana sourced from Delta 9, Canopy Growth’s subsidiaries and Canopy’s other partners. Under the terms of the deal, Canopy would also distribute Delta 9’s product to other provinces.

The Canadian Cannabis Co-op, a collaboration between 12 federally-licensed marijuana producers that includes Winnipeg-based producer Bonify, will also be responding to the RFP with its own retail vision, co-op co-chair Darren Karasiuk said.

Manitoba’s request for proposals appears to be geared towards large players, according to Trina Fraser, who practices business law with a focus on cannabis as a partner at Brazeau Seller Law in Ottawa.

“You have to either have an established network of retail stores, or demonstrate the potential to establish a network of stores,” said Fraser. “So clearly they’re saying, ‘If you’re just intending to be a mom-and-pop stand-alone shop, don’t bother applying.'”

Because the RFP isn’t based on an existing licensing regime with clear requirements, added Fraser, respondents will have their work cut out for them.

“There’s a lot of work that would have to go to putting a compelling package together to respond to this, because it is asking you to develop policies, procedures, standards, et cetera, and all of those things involve a detailed understanding of the law at all levels of government,” she said.

solomon.israel@freepress.mb.ca

@sol_israel