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Cannabis retailers announced for Estevan and other Saskatchewan communities

The company that won the lottery to be the cannabis retailer for Estevan is looking forward to coming to the community. Prairie Sky Cannabis Inc. won the right to be the lone operator in Estevan.
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The company that won the lottery to be the cannabis retailer for Estevan is looking forward to coming to the community.

Prairie Sky Cannabis Inc. won the right to be the lone operator in Estevan. The Regina-based company is operated by president John Thomas and his brother, vice-president David Thomas.

The company also won the lottery to have the retail outlets in Battleford, Martensville and Moosomin.

President John Thomas said he has a pharmaceutical background. He opened his own pharmacy about six years ago, and he sold the business about two years ago.

“I think I have the experience to run a similar-sized retail business like this, but also we’re very cognisant of the concerns with cannabis,” John Thomas said in an interview with the Mercury.

As a health care professional, he knows there are concerns about cannabis, but he believes Prairie Sky is in a good position to take what he learned from his career and succeed.

David Thomas said Prairie Sky Cannabis viewed Estevan as a great opportunity for a small business.

“We see Estevan as a cornerstone of Saskatchewan’s economy over the years,” he said. “Multiple members of our team have retail experience in Saskatchewan.”

They had similar reasons for wanting to venture into the other communities.

“We are open to doing business in smaller communities,” he said. “We’re more comfortable working with Saskatchewan communities, and we wanted multiple permits to be able to scale our business and offer a good service to the communities.”

He did not divulge how many permits Prairie Sky Cannabis applied for, but they applied in other communities where they were not successful.

Prairie Sky Cannabis is working with the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority to finalize the permitting process, he said. Their goal is to be open once marijuana becomes legal.

“It’s unclear when that legalization date will fall, but that is our goal to be running in all four communities,” he said.

There will be a lot to accomplish before marijuana is legal. David Thomas looks forward to building a relationship with producers.

A location has not been determined for Estevan, but David Thomas said the company is looking forward to working with the city, to ensure the company meets the city’s regulations and guidelines for the business.

“They do have certain regulations that we’ve reviewed, but we really want to … be involved with the city,” he said.

Richard Neufeld, the city’s land development services manager, said he can’t process an application until the other levels of government have completed their work on marijuana legislation. He has spoken with Prairie Sky.

A total of 51 retailers for Saskatchewan were announced by the government on Friday.

“This represents the next step in the process of having a privately-operated cannabis retail system carefully regulated by SLGA,” said Gene Makowsky, the minister responsible for the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority (SLGA). “There was a lot of interest in the public request for proposal process, resulting in many new businesses that will invest in our province.”

The successful proponents were selected through a two-phase request for proposal (RFP) process that began in March. The first phase involved a screening for qualifications focused on financial, sales and inventory tracking systems. All those that qualified entered the second phase of the process, which was a lottery draw to select the successful operators.

KPMG was engaged to provide oversight and monitor the entire RFP process.

The successful proponents have 45 days to begin the permitting process. As a condition of their permit, retail cannabis permittees must be operating within 12 months of legalization.

Permits will not take effect until legalization occurs, which is expected to happen later this year.

Cannabis retail stores must be standalone operations, selling only cannabis, cannabis accessories and ancillary items as defined by SLGA. Alcohol sales will not be permitted in cannabis stores.

Cannabis retail locations are subject to local municipal zoning bylaws. Estevan city council passed its cannabis bylaw earlier this year.

It stipulates that the business would have to be in the commercial districts of Fourth Street, King Street, 13th Avenue or Kensington Avenue. It would need to have a store front visible from the street, and it would need to be at least 200 metres from a school.

The Estevan Shoppers Mall likely wouldn’t be an option, Neufeld said, because the storefront would not be visible from the street. But the business could construct a building on the mall’s property.

Estevan was allocated two retail locations by SLGA early this year, but Estevan city council, acting on a recommendation from the Estevan board of police commissioners, decided to allow just one retailer.