e-3174 Indigenous affairs
Gord Johns
Cannabis,Crop production,Indigenous policy,Permits and licences,Port Alberni,Racial equality
June 18, 2021, at 6:34 p.m. (EDT)
Petition to the Minister of Health
  Whereas:
  
    Health Canada has an open file (no. 10-MM0330) to license a medical marijuana facility at 7827 Beaver Creek Road, in Port Alberni, British Columbia;
    This Walmart-sized cannabis facility would be located directly across the street (174 m) from Kackaamin, a First Nations Family Trauma and Addictions healing centre that provides treatment to adults, while housing the entire family, with onsite fully accredited daycare and K-12 school;
    Kackaamin is doing the work of healing from our shared history of colonialism and residential schools;
    Kackaamin was never consulted in the initial planning of this facility, and has requested that this facility be located elsewhere;
    The purpose of the Cannabis Act is “to protect public health and public safety”; and
    The Government of Canada has commitments to reconciliation, the United Nations Declaration of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), and to  implement the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC)'s Calls to Action.
  
  
    We, the undersigned, citizens and residents of Canada, call upon the Minister of Health to:
    1. Acknowledge the implicit racism in the policy choices of Health Canada’s cannabis licensing process and handling of this file;
    2. Adhere to the purpose of the Cannabis Act and the principle of reconciliation;
    3. Expedite review of this file and cancel all cannabis licenses and applications at 7827, 7825 and 7821 Beaver Creek Road, Port Alberni, B.C., under s. 62(7)(g) of the Cannabis Act “in the public interest”; and
    4. Apologize to Kackaamin and reaffirm their commitment to the UNDRIP and the TRC’s Calls to Action.