5Buds has received a development permit to open at #631 801 15th St. E., the former location of Freshii (Alison Sandstrom/paNOW staff)

By Alison Sandstrom

Council and cannabis

Council caps cannabis stores at three and approves new outlet

Jul 28, 2020 | 8:00 AM

City council has capped the number of cannabis retailers in Prince Albert at three, and approved the city’s third and presumably final store.

Council made the decisions at Monday’s meeting, ahead of the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority removing the limit on cannabis stores province-wide in September.

“I’m glad we’re opening a third,” Mayor Greg Dionne told paNOW after the meeting. “But I think that’s enough at this point. The other stores that are here are struggling. And the main reason, of course, that we want to control cannabis is that it’s an intoxicant.”

He explained the province already has a problem with alcohol and he worried that without restrictions, the same thing could happen with cannabis.

Despite concerns from some councillors that limiting the number of the stores in the city would create a monopoly on the market, or lead more people to buy the substance on the black market, most of the city’s politicians backed the mayor’s position.

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Later in Monday’s meeting, on a separate but closely related item, council approved the development permit for the city’s third cannabis store.

The cornerstone site will be 5Buds Cannabis’ fourth location in the province, with existing stores in Yorkton North Battleford and Warman. The company is the result of a partnership between Athabasca Basin Development, Des Nedhe Group of Companies, Peter Ballantyne Group of Companies and Prince Albert First Nations Business Development.

5Buds will still have to obtain a Cannabis Retail Permit from SLGA, meaning they’ll have to wait for that body to lift the provincial cap in September before they open.

The city’s director of planning and development said 5Buds was the only group to formally express interest in opening a cannabis store in P.A., although other parties reached out to him with questions.

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alison.sandstrom@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @alisandstrom