Prairie Cannabis owner Jim Southam is interested in opening a store in La Ronge. (Glenn Hicks/paNOW Staff)

By Derek Cornet

marijuana industry

Prairie Cannabis owner interested in opening La Ronge store

Feb 13, 2020 | 11:45 AM

Prairie Cannabis Owner Jim Southam is interested in potentially opening a store in La Ronge as the provincial government allows for more permits later this year.

He made a presentation at a regular council meeting Wednesday, where he explained who he was and asked councillors if they have thought about the new changes coming soon. He said as of this April, permits will be available for communities under 2,500 people, then in September, those interested will be able to apply for a permit in communities over 2,500 that could already have stores.

“They are kind of passing the buck, so to speak, on to cities, towns and rural municipalities to decide how many permits they wish to allow,” Southam said. “We’re reaching out and trying to prepare the best we can for the upcoming changes. We’re trying to find out if communities have discussed or thought about the upcoming changes.”

Southam is part of a co-operative of independent stores in Saskatchewan. He said the group currently has nine members and it was formed to be able to compete better against large corporations in the market. He believes that having locally-owned, independent businesses will be more of a benefit to communities compared to those who are not as invested. Southam noted the money generated by those operations tend to leave the communities they serve.

Council also asked Southam about the current state of the cannabis retail market and if there was room in La Ronge for another store. He replied it is estimated the black market is still taking 80 per cent of revenues, so there is a lot of opportunity for legal suppliers to take more of that share.

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“It’s going to take a lot of years to do that and I think it will be successful once the market has evened out,” Southam said. “It’s going to take some time to get there.”

In response to his inquiry, Coun. Jordan McPhail said the town is prepared for the potential opening of more stores as any businesses selling controlled substances must be approved for a discretionary permit under the zoning bylaw. That means any business would need to follow the zoning bylaws of the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority and council would approve a permit on a case-by-case basis.

“If you think there is room for it, obviously we want any business we can get here as long as it’s well regulated,” McPhail said.

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derek.cornet@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @saskjourno