By Roger White

North Battleford eligible for 2 marijuana retail outlets; town eligible for 1

Jan 8, 2018 | 1:00 PM

The Saskatchewan government has announced with the upcoming legalization of marijuana, North Battleford will be allowed to have two retail marijuana stores and the Town of Battleford will be allowed one retail store. The City of Meadow Lake is also eligible for one cannabis retail location.

The government stated the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority (SLGA) will issue approximately 60 cannabis retail permits to private operators in as many as 40 Saskatchewan municipalities and First Nations communities.

“I received a letter this morning (Monday) from SLGA informing me that we were eligible for two locations,” Mayor Ryan Bater said. “Council has a couple items we must consider very soon because of today’s announcement.”

A two-phase selection process will be used to determine the retail operators in each community. The process will involve screening for demonstrated financial capacity and the ability to track and report cannabis inventory to ensure consumers only have access to safe, legal product from regulated wholesalers. Phase two will be a random lottery selection of qualified applicants and proponents cannot be selected for more than one retail permit in each community.

Bater added that the City of North Battleford has the option to opt in or opt out, meaning council can prohibit the retailing of cannabis in the city.

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“If we take that route we must submit a resolution or a bylaw to the province by February 28,” Bater added. “So this is something we will need to discuss and debate very soon.”

Bater added that if city council agrees not to prohibit retail cannabis operators in North Battleford, city zoning bylaws will need to be amended, as well as the need for a lot of public engagement.

“This has been on our radar for quite some time and we are ready for this,” Bater said. “We had considered bylaw amendments last year for the production of a medicinal marijuana facility, so now we get to work.”

Bater said that he will inform city council at tonight’s (Monday’s) meeting and the issue will likely be dealt with at the Jan.22 meeting.

Town of Battleford Mayor Ames Leslie reaffirmed Bater’s comments saying it was nice to see the provincial government release its plan to deal with the issue to cannabis regulation. However, much work needs to be done.

“We need to review all the procedures and regulations,” Leslie said. “We (Town of Battleford) are eligible for one private cannabis retailer and to date we have not had any business licence applications come forward.”    

SLGA also announced that cannabis retailers must operate a standalone business with a storefront and will only be permitted to sell cannabis, cannabis accessories and ancillary items.

The province added that it will assess the effectiveness of the initial allocations and could allocate additional opportunities approximately 12 to 18 months after legalization.

SLGA said specific details regarding application criteria, permit licensing fees, application timelines and other associated details will be finalized over the coming weeks.

roger.white@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @RJWtheReporter