The winner of the permit for a cannabis retail outlet in Battleford is looking forward to the next steps of the process.
Prairie Sky Cannabis Inc. of Regina was awarded the permit for Battleford in the lottery draw held Friday by the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority.
Battleford had been allocated one of the 51 permits that were drawn. Prairie Sky Cannabis was granted four licences. They also won permits for stores in Estevan, Moosomin and Martensville.
In speaking to the Regional OptimistMonday, John Thomas, president of Prairie Sky Cannabis, said he was delighted to receive as many permits as they did.
“We were very lucky from the lottery,” said Thomas. The company had applied for permits in 30 communities, in the hopes of winning at least one.
The company itself is coming at cannabis retail from a pharmaceutical perspective. Thomas is a pharmacist and has run a pharmacy in the past.
“I kind of come at this with the mindset of a health care professional,” he said.
His brother and business partner David Thomas has an engineering background and his expertise is more on the technical side.
While Prairie Sky Cannabis has cleared a big hurdle with the SLGA, other regulatory hurdles still remain.
The next step is for the company is to comply with all the provincial requirements with the 45-day process to formally apply for the permit.
As well, they plan to “get in touch with the local government and just make sure we are following their proper procedure, and that zoning and that sort of thing won’t be an issue.”
Thomas says he has talked to Battleford administration and understands there are two options for a location — the highway commercial area, and downtown.
“But it sounds like downtown might not be the preferred destination, it is classified as discretionary use right now,” said Thomas. The highway commercial zone might be the more appropriate spot, he added.
Thomas says the company is willing to work with town officials on finding an appropriate location.
“Whatever zoning they want, we certainly are going to comply with that. If people have preferences as to where it’s going to go, we’re definitely open to that discussion.”
Opening day is still a question mark, and also largely out of their hands.
The federal government has long set a date of July 1 for legalization.
“I don’t think anyone thinks that is realistic,” said Thomas.
As well, Prairie Sky Cannabis still has to go through the 45-day permitting process with SLGA that all the winning proponents must go through. A more realistic goal, Thomas indicated, would be for Prairie Sky Cannabis to be ready to open in Battleford should legalization happen in the fall or in early 2019.
“Our goal is to be open day one of legalization,” said Thomas.
