Rural pot shop openings will bring Manitoba closer to ‘30-minute driver availability,’ says minister

The Manitoba government has selected seven communities to receive one of its next round of cannabis stores.

The province will allow a single store to set up in each of Altona, Flin Flon, Lac du Bonnet, Niverville, Swan River, Virden and the Rural Municipality of Russell-Binscarth.

Growth, Enterprise and Trade Minister Blaine Pedersen said the communities were selected to advance a government goal that 90% of Manitobans have a recreational cannabis store located within a 30-minute drive.

“This helps to fill … the holes in the province that don’t have that 30-minute drive availability,” said Pedersen. “It brings us very close to that mandate.”

Pedersen noted that goal is meant to help legal cannabis sales undermine the black market, though government doesn’t yet have a clear measurement to determine what portion of pot demand is now addressed by legal sales.

The province hopes to meet the 30-minute access goal within two years of the legalization of recreational cannabis sales, which began on Oct. 17, 2018.

Pedersen said a shortage of cannabis supply is limiting the second round of retail store additions, with the province’s 21 current stores only receiving about 30% of the stock they order.

The minister said that shortage has delayed plans to expand the market and prevented Manitoba’s four previously approved companies from setting up all of the roughly 40 stores they were expected to create.

“We would like to go to full retail tomorrow where anybody who wants to open a store, and works with the municipality, (can do so). But there’s no sense opening (all of those) stores until we’ve got more product available,” said Pedersen.

The province says almost 100 applicants have pre-qualified to set up the second round of cannabis shops. The winning bidders will be selected through a random draw for each location, based on where they’d like to set up. Companies approved in round one can also enter the draw to add a store, said Pedersen.

Altona Mayor Al Friesen said the move could benefit his residents by allowing them to “buy local.”

“People will be looking for that option anyway and this way it’s closer to home,” said Friesen.

Friesen said the potentially controversial sale of a formerly illegal substance hasn’t triggered much local concern so far. He said his council already prepared a bylaw to govern cannabis sales, which attracted minimal feedback.

“This is a sensitive issue … but there are many people just resigned to the fact that it is part of life,” said Friesen.

Scott Jocelyn, president of the Manitoba Hotel Association, said about 20 hotels he represents have pre-qualified for the draw, companies he believes would bring valuable experience to the market.

“They already deal with (alcohol), a controlled substance … It’d be a great opportunity for the hotels,” said Jocelyn.

The cities of Steinbach and Winkler, as well as the Rural Municipalities of Stanley, Stuartburn, Wallace-Woodworth and Riding Mountain West have held plebiscite votes to ban recreational cannabis stores from setting up in their communities, decisions the province has promised to follow.

Pedersen said it’s not yet clear when the new stores will open.

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