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In less than a year, seven cannabis dispensaries have opened in Pikwàkanagàn First Nation.

The dispensaries opened without the blessing of any level of government, including the band council. About 450 people live on the reserve about 150 kilometres west of Ottawa. The dispensaries now employ about 90 people and pay wages of about $2.8 million a year. So far, none of the dispensaries have been fined or raided by police.

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“We saw that the industry was moving forward, and if we didn’t move soon, the industry would leave us behind,” said Greg Sarazin, who opened Smoke Signals, the first dispensary in Pikwàkanagàn, in March 2018.

For the dispensary owners of Pikwàkanagàn, the heart of the matter is that the reserve is on unceded Algonquin territory. “We are doing it based on the sovereign right of the Algonquin people,” said Sarazin, who was chief between 1987 and 1989.

No First Nation in Ontario has the population base to apply for a licence. Like dozens of other dispensaries operated on Indigenous territories, those in Pikwàkanagàn sell unlicensed product. But the business owners say their products have been tested, they’re interested in community safety and they want to self-regulate. Six of the seven dispensaries have formed a business association.