Indian band could host pot facilities
2 cannabis production plants planned on Penticton reserve as ground broken for facility in Kaleden
Two operations to produce cannabis on Penticton Indian Band land are in the planning stages following a groundbreaking for a 200,000-square-foot facility in Kaleden on Friday.
Green Mountain Health Alliance, a licensed cultivator, processor and wholesale producer of medical cannabis, held a groundbreaking and press conference at the site of the first of three planned Okanagan facilities directly off Highway 3A in Kaleden.
Penticton Indian Band Coun. Kyle Alec said there are plans to open two more Green Mountain facilities on PIB land. The project began taking shape after discussions in June.
“It just started as an idea, but we learned very quickly it was more than an idea and it came to fruition really quickly,” Alec said. “The amount of support we got nationwide is huge . . . the amount of support that even just community members are showing.”
The band is currently in talks for a profit-sharing partnership with Green Mountain involving the planned future sites.
“There’s definitely talk of having some form of benefit to the community on top of the job creation,” Alec said.
The 6.5-hectare Kaleden facility is expected to produce around 15,000 kilograms of medical cannabis in a year.
David Chartrand, six-term president of the Manitoba Metis Federation, which has a financial partnership with Green Mountain, was on hand to put one of the first shovels in the ground Friday.
“This is the first investment,” Chartrand said. “There’s going to be more invested in Penticton and the surrounding area. Penticton is going to be a true benefactor with opportunities for jobs, employment. The band itself is going to have shared revenue with distribution of funds that will go to the band directly. It’s certainly going to be an economic engine of growth for Penticton.”
He said the facilities will use the best science, technology and engineers, and will respect the environment.
“The environment has been given strong consideration to do as (little) damage in any capacity — regarding the economic utilization of water, resource materials and using all of the skills that can be attributed to the science and skill set of different engineers. That’s the No. 1 priority for building of these sites,” Chartrand said.
The other top priority is producing a high-quality product.
“There’s a lot of energy here in the sense of the sunny days in Penticton being used to its fullest,” Chartrand said. “If you look at it from that context, this is a fine, fine, fine location, and I can express on behalf of Green Mountain our appreciation to the band in Penticton.”
In total, Green Mountain plans to build more than one million square feet of facilities near Penticton.