Editor’s Note:
Global News was contacted by Ron Cannan following publication and broadcast of this story. He went on record denying any involvement in illegal activity. Cannan also clarified that his position on illegal cannabis dispensaries has not changed, saying that as an MP he strongly advocated for constituents trying to access medical marijuana.
Update: July 20 – Ron Cannan informed Global News that he stepped down from the board of directors the day after this story aired.
ORIGINAL STORY:
With the growing demand for medical marijuana, and as the October 17 date for legalization in Canada approaches, it would appear that everyone is getting into the business, including a former federal politician from Kelowna and a First Nations chief from West Kelowna.
Former Conservative Kelowna-Lake Country MP Ron Cannan has jumped right into the retail marijuana business. He’s a director on a company called Indigenous Bloom, which owns a dispensary on the Kwaw-Kwaw Apilt First Nations reserve in the Chilliwack area.
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Last Thursday, the law came down on two dispensaries on the reserve, including the one that Cannan is involved with.
RCMP said the dispensaries were operating illegally.
Cannan said he’s not directly involved in the dispensary.
“I am a board director for Indigenous Bloom, but I am not involved in the day-to-day operations of the business,” he said in an email to Global News.
Another high profile member of Indigenous Bloom is Robert Louie — former chief of the Westbank First Nation.
He’s the chairman of the company. He said the Indigenous Bloom dispensary is up and running again — a day after the raid.
“The RCMP unfortunately did not know that Kwaw-Kwaw-Apilt had their third-and-final reading of their Cannabis Law the same day as the closure. Kwaw-Kwaw-Apilt re-opened their dispensary operations the next day under the guidance of their newly implemented law,” Louie said in an email to Global News.
Louie didn’t get into specifics about the band’s new law but did point out that the Kwaw-Kwaw-Apilt band is a self-governing community — suggesting that the band has the authority to allow dispensaries on its land with or without government approval, but our sources in Ottawa maintain the laws for dispensaries applies to all Canadians, no matter where they live.
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