Cannabis will once again be growing at what was CannTrust’s (later Phoena’s) facility in Pelham.
Ward 1 Councillor Wayne Olson has spoken to a representative of T’iitsk’in Spirit Ventures Ltd. (TSV), the new owner of the facility, and was left with some positive impressions. Olson, in whose ward the facility is located, decided to stop in after noticing activity going on at the site.
“I really just went there to say hello,” the Ward 1 councillor said. “It was nothing official.”
Olson said that while there, he “suggested a couple of things” that TSV could do to advise the community on their plans for the site.
“I told (the representative) that maybe they should have a public meeting. They seemed open to that.”
The plant, located at the corner of Hwy. 20 and Balfour Street in Fenwick, has been a source of concern for nearby residents in Cherry Ridge, with issues such as odour emanating from the plant chief among them.
“They’re willing to talk with anyone,” Olson said.
TSV is owned by members of the Uchucklesaht Nation, in British Columbia, where they are also the principals behind Thunderbird Spirit Water. For that venture, a percentage of the proceeds from the sales of their bottled water is directed to First Nations communities across Canada who are living with unsafe drinking water.
Word of a new owner for the facility is not news to Tim Nohara, who chaired Pelham’s Cannabis Control Committee over the last term of council. He became aware of the sale through reading documents filed under Phoena’s (formerly CannTrust) Companies Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) application. He was following this process ever since he had — because of his work with the committee — received a letter from Phoena notifying the Town that it was shutting down its Pelham operations last summer.
Now, with TSV planning to restart cannabis production at the site, there will a new set of rules that were not in place when CannTrust/Phoena, and Redecan, the other cannabis producer in Pelham, first set up shop. Both were able to continue operations after council passed the cannabis control bylaw as a legal, non-conforming use.
“It was properly approved before— there were no regulations — so they had a right to continue as long as they continued.”
It will be a different story for TSV, however, Nohara said. The plant is “not to be used for cannabis again, except in compliance with the new Pelham cannabis regulations.” Those regulations are spelled out in Pelham’s Odorous Industries Nuisance Bylaw, passed in March 2020. Provisions in the bylaw include those for proof of licencing to produce cannabis and to inform the Town of any changes being made to its licence provisions, operate only in zones where cannabis business is allowed, employ air filtration systems to mitigate odour emanating from the facility, document complaints received from members of the community and detail steps taken to remedy the situation, pay for ongoing odour monitoring, and more.
“The regulations are designed for orderly conduct where both the person looking to establish a facility and the existing neighbours can live in their company,” Nohara said.
Part of the issue surrounding cannabis production is that the federal government, when it approved cannabis for recreational consumption back in October 2018, set no real ground rules, Nohara said.
“Normally, if the federal government is going to do something...they would take the time to study what the provincial and municipal implications would be. (They’d) work out the framework, the details.”
Instead, it was left up to provinces and municipalities to do that work, Nohara said.
“They just did it, did it and said we'll work out the details later, basically.”
Mayor Marvin Junkin, meanwhile, said the Town has not received any notification of a sale of the facility.
“No one has gotten hold of the corporation,” he said.
He did, however, say the Town has been aware of an “intent to purchase” from a potential new owner.
Chief Administrative Officer David Cribbs confirmed that the Town had heard nothing official about the sale but that is not unusual as it is a real estate transaction.
“The only time the municipality learns when there is a change of ownership is when it hears from MPAC (the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation),” he said. “That’s the extent of our involvement.”
Cribbs, however, added he was aware that Olson had informal talks with a representative of TSV.
“We’ve heard nothing officially,” Cribbs said.
A building permit that was issued to CannTrust in 2019 for a 36,000 -square-metre expansion has also been renewed.
The plant closure and subsequent CCAA filing has brought CannTrust/Phoena’s troubled history in town to a close. After opening with much fanfare in 2018, the Vaughan-based company’s fortunes took a nosedive in 2019 after it was alleged that about half the cannabis being grown at the Fenwick site was not authorized by Health Canada, which regulates the cannabis industry across the country.
Three CannTrust executives at the time — Peter Aceto, Mark Litwin and Eric Paul — were charged after the Ontario Securities Commission and the RCMP determined the three were aware of what was happening. They were later acquitted after OSC prosecutors determined they no longer felt they had a chance at obtaining a conviction.
