Of the 12 REC retail lottery winners the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario disqualified last week, 11 jointly filed judicial review applications.
Bloomberg
- All were disqualified for failing to deliver required paperwork on time. The plaintiffs claim they were all delayed in being officially informed by registered letter of their lottery win, and should have been given five days to fulfill requirements, but were not.
Globe and Mail - They are represented by Peter Brauti, the same lawyer who defended two Toronto police officers who stole and consumed edibles during a dispensary raid, then greened out and called for backup, screaming they were dying.
Jameson Berkow
The judge suspended the AGCO’s review process of all licence applications for two weeks ahead of his ruling in the matter.
Bloomberg
- Brauti claimed the suspension was “a huge win. You hope for a home run, but a grand slam is what this was.”
Globe and Mail - The move will delay the plan for new stores to begin opening on October 1. It will also affect those wait-listed lottery entrants who moved into winning positions after the plaintiffs were disqualified. Lawyer Trina Fraser noted the Ontario market could handle 11 more stores than planned.
Twitter—David George-Cosh, CBC Toronto, Twitter—Trina Fraser
Retail giant Fire and Flower said it won’t partner with any winners of the second REC retail lottery, claiming some have made “outrageous” demands for multi-$M payouts.
Globe and Mail
- Hobo Cannabis announced plans to open a 5,000-sq. foot multi-level REC store in Ottawa’s Byward Market area. Hobo’s other Ottawa location appears to have completed more transactions than any Ontario REC store.
CTV, Twitter
The Ontario Cannabis Retail Corporation (which operates the Ontario Cannabis Store) posted a $42M loss for the last fiscal year.
Bloomberg
- The Ontario Cannabis Store—both in online retail sales, and in wholesale sales to retailers—generated $64M in the year ending March 31, but had $106M in expenses, compared with $6M in the first year of operations.
CBC Toronto - The Ontario government collected $19M in excise taxes, roughly half the $35M it estimated it would collect.
Twitter—David George-Cosh
