Ontario may end its government monopoly on cannabis wholesale and join Saskatchewan in allowing LPs to sell to retailers without an intermediary.
- The Ontario Cannabis Retail Corporation owns crown online REC retailer the Ontario Cannabis Store and funnels all REC through its provincial wholesale warehouse.
- The motivation for the change is the threat that after legalization 2.0, there will be so many new products the provincial warehouse will not have space to stock them.
- Lawyer Trina Fraser praised the idea, saying, “There is no reason for a provincial distributor. The integrity of the supply chain can be maintained without product sitting on the shelf of a warehouse in Oakville for god knows how long.”
A panel of judges dismissed a claim by 11 disqualified Ontario REC retail lottery winners, also ending a freeze on licence processing.
Bloomberg
- The judges will explain their ruling within 10 days.
- The 11 disqualified lottery winners argued they did not receive news of their wins quickly enough to give them time to file their paperwork. Judges apparently agreed with lawyers for the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario’s claim that applicants were responsible for making sure they’ve given the correct email address.
CBC Toronto - Toronto lawyer Caryma Sa’d posted several informative threads before and during the hearing explaining the issues in exhaustive detail.
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The Cannabis Council of Canada pressured the Ontario government to fast-track opening more REC retailers, arguing supply is now strong enough to support the whole market.
Press Release