Licence applicants hope for local preference
Two local businessmen who applied for one of the province’s limited number of cannabis retailer licences hope there will be some favouritism shown to Saskatchewan entrepreneurs.
On Friday, the provincial government announced it had received 1,502 applications in its request-for-proposals process for 51 cannabis retailer licences in 32 communities.
The government did not share the origin of the applications, but the process was open to people from outside of the province.
Regina entrepreneur Jason Drummond said he knows of applicants from across Canada and the United States.
“That landscape will be pretty competitive, because you’ve got a lot of out-of-province companies that have a lot of cash on hand specifically to chase down licences all across Canada, and that in itself is tough to compete with,” said Drummond, who is part of the Leo’s Group, which founded Leopold’s Tavern in Regina and Saskatoon.
His group applied for “about 15 to 20” licences in conjunction with York Plains Investment Corp.
Drummond said he commends the province for opening its cannabis industry to the private sector, rather than creating a Crown corporation, but he hopes “there’s some bias somewhere in that process for locals,” because “there’s definitely a lot of capable people around here that can provide this type of product and service.”
Another Saskatchewan applicant expressed a similar sentiment, although he was not so diplomatic in doing so.
“Why is Saskatchewan in their infinite wisdom deciding that they should maybe potentially spread this wealth throughout Canada?” said the man, who preferred that his name not be published lest it jeopardize his chances of being selected for the lottery.
“Rather than it benefiting 100 per cent the Saskatchewan people — fixing our roads and fixing our infrastructure and feeding our families — (profits) could potentially (leave the province). Come on.
“I was appalled that they would be so idiotic.”
Montreal lawyer Avi Levy (of the firm Ticket911.ca) is one of the outof-province hopefuls. He applied for licences in Regina, Saskatoon, Moose Jaw, Prince Albert and the RM of Edenwold.
“We don’t have that opportunity in Quebec, because the government is going to keep all of that business for themselves ... It’s something that interested me very much and I saw it as an opportunity,” said Levy.
He said he would seek local people to manage and work at his store if he were awarded a licence — which would also present an opportunity for his first-ever visit to Saskatchewan.
Levy said he plans to apply for a retail licence in Alberta, which is also relying on the private sector for its cannabis industry.
As the request-for-proposal process has closed, the next step is for the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority to screen the applicants for certain criteria, including “good character.” Those who meet the criteria will be put into a lottery and licences will be awarded at random.
The anonymous Saskatchewan man said he is concerned by the fact the lottery won’t be public.
“I’ll know if I do get into the draw, but then I have no idea how that draw is going to go because that part of it is behind closed doors,” he said. “I’m guessing if they draw those six names in Regina and (certain government-favoured applicants) aren’t in there, then they might just keep drawing until they are.”
If no applicants are weeded out in the vetting process, the chance of obtaining a licence in Regina is one in 28. In Saskatoon, it’s one in 25. In Moose Jaw, the odds are one in 53.5.
“All we could do is put our best foot forward and put in the best proposal we thought we could do, and hopefully we do in fact get into a lottery. And then I guess, just like everybody else, we just hope we get lucky,” said Drummond.
“We hope we get licences, but we have no expectation there. If we don’t, I think we would look to participate in the next round.”