Six Nations Cannabis Commission (SNCC) updated Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) on the plans the organization is hoping to roll out in the future, including obtaining a organization bank account to help operations and bringing a cannabis testing facility to the community to ensure products are regulated and safe for the public. SNCC was founded in 2019 and SNCC's website states that "SNCC was established to develop a legal cannabis regulator regime to support community-owned and operated cannabis business within the Six Nations community". Currently SNCC has three licensed cannabis producers as well as three licensed cannabis retailers.

Kathy Mair, SNCC chief commissioner, says the commission has been trying to obtain a bank account and have met with several different banks and credit unions with no luck in securing one so far. But she added that the organization is currently in talks with two different credit unions.

"Without a bank account, all of our dealings have to be with cash because we can't deposit the cheques or money orders or anything," she said, discussing the difficulties SNCC faces with no bank account. "There's lower transparency. It's hard to account for without a number of receipts, 'okay this is how much money we have.'

"The revenue that we've received thus far have all been application fees; the revenue from the products will be starting in the next few weeks," she said. "Not having a bank account creates an unsafe environment for both our staff, our fellow tenants and everyone involved. Not having a bank account increases the chance of robberies. With our insurance, we pay ten times the amount and we can't get tenant insurance, we can only get general liability insurance."

Chief Mark Hill addressed these concerns brought forward to SNEC.

"I know the banking has always been up on the priority list for advocacy. We've touched base on that and some of the alternative routes that we're going to be looking at. We know that there's things happening at both levels as well through the AFN (Assembly of First Nations) as well as Chiefs of Ontario but I think it's still that political push on the AML (Anti-Money Laundering) regulations that are still the blocking point and stumbling block for us in order to receive the account."

Hill says SNEC will continue to work with SNCC and support their efforts in obtaining a bank account.

Another initiative SNCC brought forward was the hope to bring a cannabis testing facility to Six Nations to help regulate products and ensure that products being sold through Six Nations retailers are safe for public use, as well as providing financial support to local retailers and producers to help regulate their products.

"This is something that is needed moving forward. If Six Nations had their own testing facility, we'd be one of the few in Canada to have one. It would demonstrate our need for safe and regulated cannabis," she said. "Being involved in the cannabis industry on a First Nation, some testing facilities will not touch you for our retailers, others will touch you and will charge you five times the amount, ten time the amount. It's not fair for our licensed or unlicensed producers or retailers.

"If we had a testing facility here, we could do all that testing here. It would increase transparency, there would be a testing facility that not only SNCC could use but other people could use and lower the cost for everyone involved with the cannabis industry," Mair added.

The updates were presented to SNEC during the May 15 general finance meeting where SNEC accepted SNCC's quarterly update as information.

For the full CJKS story listen below: