Face of Nation : The federal government’s lead minister on the cannabis file has been in talks with First Nations leaders over how to carve out First Nations jurisdiction over the cannabis industry on their territories.
Ottawa initially cut First Nations out of the cannabis regulatory and revenue-sharing regime when it developed the Cannabis Act which gave provincial and territorial governments control over the distribution and retail end, while Health Canada oversees the licensing of commercial production.
Ottawa also splits excise tax revenues 25 per cent to 75 per cent with provincial and territorial governments. “They left us behind when they started going down that channel,” said Opaskwayak Cree Nation Onekanew (Chief) Christian Sinclair, who has been involved in the discussions.
Organized Crime Reduction Minister Bill Blair has held several meetings with First Nations leaders — including a teleconference Thursday — exploring the possibility of a cannabis plan which could eventually require a legislative component to give it force.
Isadore Day, CEO of Bimaadzwin, a consulting company that focuses on Indigenous nationhood, said it would mirror the federal, provincial and territorial rules governing the cannabis industry. “What the First Nation framework is looking to do is have a parallel track,” said Day.
The regulatory regime would be First Nations-controlled — from the licensing to testing to traceability to revenue sharing, said Day, a former regional chief for Ontario.
Blair’s office said in an emailed statement that the federal government will continue to “engage” with Indigenous communities on the cannabis issue on a “nation-to-nation” basis.
The statement said Ottawa is willing to move forward on the issue “bilaterally, if necessary,” if some provinces and territories are reluctant to participate. Blair has told First Nations leaders at the meetings that the Prime Minister’s Office is engaged on the file.
“We both acknowledge that this is a complicated situation. But there’s no reason why it can’t be solved,” Blair told First Nation leaders during July 16 talks in Ottawa. “The prime minister has been very clear that he wants this resolved in a nation-to-nation way.” Day said he knows any potential legislative component to this framework, should it come to fruition, would have to wait until after the federal election this October.
However, he said he hoped to have some form of written commitment before the writ drops. He said discussions are also soon planned with senior officials with Health Canada. “If you get this on the table with the bureaucracy before the writ drops, you are going to be able to move the file,” he said.
