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It’s a concern echoed by retailers across Alberta. Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC) — the body responsible for enforcing Health Canada regulations in the province — issued an official warning to Trevor Bamsey, owner of the Hinton-based Rocky Mountain Collective pot stores, over two billboards promoting his company, one in Hinton and one near Edson.

“I pay a significant amount every month for that billboard and I’m locked into the contract,” said Bamsey, who has to take down his signage by Nov. 15 or face sanctions from AGLC. “And it cost me almost three grand to make the billboard, which I just have to roll up and throw away, I guess.”

AGLC confirmed that it is contacting retailers in contravention of new signage rules.

“For licensees that we are aware of that are not in compliance with the federal requirements, they will be contacted by an inspector and advised of necessary action to take,” said AGLC communications manager Heather Holmen in an email. “Failure to meet these requirements could result in sanctions against a licensee.”

Bamsey says his billboards, which included his logo and the addresses of his stores, represented one of the only ways he could promote his business.

The CRAA is still working to get up and running. It is modelling itself after Alberta Liquor Store Association, with the hopes of providing a unified voice for advocacy, and potentially legal action, directed towards regulatory bodies.

“For the small, independent guys, they don’t have the resources for this. They don’t have the voice,” Shields said. “And it’s the small guys who are really struggling right now to make it go, because they’re competition with the black market, and we have the strictest rules of any kind of retail store I’ve ever been involved in.”

Alberta is home to the two cities in Canada with the most cannabis retailers. As of mid-October, Calgary sat in first with 66 stores, while Edmonton’s 48 stores ranked second.

jherring@postmedia.com

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