Indigenous pot shops facing crowded market, constitutional questions 5 years since legalization

After seeing how much it helped his father-in-law deal with stage 4 cancer, Cecil "Junior" Shawana decided to get into the cannabis business.

He and his wife opened Northern Superior Cannabis in Michipicoten First Nation in March 2021 and watched customers flock to the tiny community on the shores of Lake Superior from as far away as Dubreuilville and Chapleau.

But Shawana, who lives in Michipicoten but is a citizen of Wikwemikong, says since a provincially-licensed store opened in Wawa, they've watched their profits shrink. 

"Our business dropped dramatically. Like we lost maybe 75 per cent of our clientele," he said.

"We just say our clients will know us for us, know our products, know our personality. It's always uncertain. If we're still here within another three, four months, we're doing good. But it's stressful, you know."

It's a similar story across northern Ontario, where Indigenous pot shops that dominated the marijuana business in the early days of legalization have watched their head start disappear with the opening of dozens of dispensaries in cities and towns.

Shawana says they opened their store without the permission of the First Nation, but after a "little pushback" now have the blessing of chief and council.

Some still dismiss this kind of Indigenous dispensary as "illegal" while others say "grey market," a reputation Shawana says he feels when he's refused services by banks, as well as credit and debit companies. 

Kana Leaf in Nipissing First Nation calls itself the first "legal" cannabis dispensary on a reserve, because it went through the provincial licensing system when it opened in February 2020.

But it also had to follow the rules set out by chief and council in its own local cannabis bylaw

"That means we had to navigate various levels of authority," said part owner Curtis Avery.

And that meant at one point not being allowed to sell cannabis gummies, drinks and other edibles like other provincially-regulated stores, because the First Nation was concerned about the impact that could have on the community.

Avery says they eventually convinced the council to amend the law and they are now more of an "equal player" with all the competitors that have since opened up in the North Bay area. 

"As with any new industry, these kinds of things are expected. We welcome it. It is a challenging time right now, but I believe we'll get through that," he said.