Back in the fall of 2019, Niverville became consumed by the issue of retail cannabis.
Just over one year ago, Niverville was targeted by the province to open a retail store, and shortly thereafter Alberta-based Canna Cabana was selected to come to town. But when the company approached town council with their proposal to open a shop last summer, council turned them away at a contentious public meeting, voting 3–2 against them opening their business.
To settle the controversy, council decided to hold a plebiscite, allowing residents to have a say on whether retail should be allowed in Niverville. Fierce campaigning took place through the fall month, and on November 26 the people voted to allow it, by a vote of 863–719.
Some may have believed that settled the issue. However, since the plebiscite, Canna Cabana has not moved forward with opening a store. Although the doors should have been wide open for a shop to get going, all has been quiet on the cannabis front. What’s been going on?
As of mid-July, the situation is still up in the air. On July 14, Niverville Mayor Myron Dyck says he was contacted by a representative of the company to give him an update on where things stand.
“Basically what he said is that their plans are on hold,” says Dyck. “He says with the COVID situation, number one, they’re short-staffed just to manage their Alberta and Ontario stores… And then he just said, simply, he hasn’t had the time or the manpower to deal with, you know, Manitoba. We would be their only Manitoba store. So he says, ‘We’re on hold, and I really don’t have a timeline for you going forward.’”
Dyck adds that the company has said they’re still in touch with the province, talking about the regulatory process.
“They’re still in conversation,” Dyck says. “But there is no timeline for us. We’re on pause. We’re on hold.”
No representative from Canna Cabana was available to comment on this story.
One significant problem would seem to be that according to the rules set out by the province and the town, a cannabis store can’t be located within 1,000 feet of a school or park. In Niverville, that means the only possible commercial locations are the few properties east of the town office on Bronstone Drive, none of which are currently available.
One of those properties, 379 Bronstone, is the one that Canna Cabana originally sought to lease. The vacancy in that building, owned by Bryan Trottier of Niverville, has since been leased to a different business.
Mayor Dyck says another possibility would be the industrial park. From a business perspective, however, there are many reasons that this might not be an attractive option. It would be off the beaten track and wouldn’t have an appealing, accessible, or visible storefront.
The mayor further postulates that commercial real estate could open up further west of Krahn Road at some point in the future, but that land currently sits undeveloped.
It could be, in the current environment, that a company like Canna Cabana would only be interested in opening a store in Niverville if the town were able to make a variance to the bylaws—something which doesn’t seem to be on the table.
In the meantime, the people of Niverville will just have to keep waiting for answers.