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Starting Wednesday, there will be a new pot marketer in town in the Opaskwayak Cree Nation – a legal merchant.
The First Nation opens a new legal retail cannabis store in the northern Manitoba community shopping center – considered the first of its kind in a First Nation in the country.
"It's quite unique and interesting for us, and a new way of doing business for us, which makes it exciting for Opaskwayak: to open a new path and [being] Scouts in this new industry as we move forward, "said Christian Sinclair, OCN Onekanew.
Sinclair said Meta Cannabis Supply Co. has a modern appearance and looks like a store that would not be moved to downtown Toronto. It will offer eight different varieties of cannabis, from $ 8 per gram, available for sale at its opening Wednesday noon.
"I think customers will be very happy."
The First Nation owns 51% of the store, with the remaining 49% owned by the managing partner, National Access Cannabis. The First Nation is the largest private shareholder in National Access.
Customers visit Winnipeg's Delta 9 products shortly after it opens on October 17th. The new OCN Cannabis Shop will offer eight different varieties for sale, starting at $ 8 a gram, opening to customers on Wednesday noon. (Lyzaville Sale / CBC)
OCN thinks it's the first legal store to open on First Nations lands in Canada, but Sinclair acknowledged that there are already cannabis clinics, which the government considers illegal, operating in some areas of the country. 39, other reservations.
Some of the clinics are run by Aboriginal retailers who claim their sovereignty.
Sinclair said the OCN store would serve about 30,000 people and the retailer was already receiving calls from off-reserve customers in neighboring communities wanting to check the new retailer.
The reserve is located approximately 520 kilometers northwest of Winnipeg, near The Pas, and has approximately 3,000 community members living in the First Nation.
Melissa Constant is the store manager and could only contain her enthusiasm about the retailer's openness.
"I'm so excited, I do not know if I can sleep a little tonight," she said Tuesday night.
Prior to holding a job at Meta Cannabis Supply Co., Constant worked as a retail sales manager at a clothing store on the reserve.
"The learning experience is amazing.I can not believe that I am actually in this kind of industry because the learning experience was long to take but I'm not sure what to do. love it already. "
The goal is to make about $ 5,000 of sales a day on reserves, but it is only an initial estimate. Sinclair said the community is renting the store's sales space and will benefit from other National Access Cannabis stores that are expected to open in Canada.
"We are winning on many fronts," he said.
The store's goal is to create economic opportunities for the community while eliminating the black market, said Sinclair, noting that cannabis was already sold before legalization last month.
Revenues could pay the debt of the community
"We are not fooling anyone into thinking that this is something new that has just come out of nowhere.The black market has thrived and its margins are very good for many decades."
Unlike some Manitoba First Nations, OCN is not a dry reserve. Sinclair said about 20 years ago that community leaders have decided to allow alcohol.
"It showed the maturity of our community to be able to allow our community to take part in this type of products, and the fact is that if they do not get there, they will just cross the bridge. to two minutes and buy it in local establishments [in The Pas]," he said.
"So why not be part of this market and show that our community is mature like any other?"
Sinclair said that OCN management has been working hard behind the scenes for about 14 months to enter the cannabis industry.
He added that sales revenue would be used to pay down community debt and could be used for language revitalization, health and recreation.
The way the First Nation spends its money will be based on the advice of community members and "it must strike a balance between economic and social interests," Sinclair said.
The First Nation owns 51% of the store, with the remaining 49% owned by the managing partner, National Access Cannabis. The First Nation is the largest private shareholder of National Access. (Guy Quenneville / CBC)
The new store has up to now 12 employees, of which 11 are OCN members. The other employee is from The Pas, Sinclair said.
National Access Cannabis, meanwhile, is about to hire more than 700 employees to work at various retail outlets in Canada, he said.
The company will open 16 stores in Manitoba's only province, with the upcoming opening of a new store in the Long Plain First Nation, Sinclair said.
The retailer does not grow the product itself. Instead, he gets the cannabis from authorized producers.
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