A company owned by a First Nation in BC is looking to grow cannabis in CannTrust’s old facility in Ontario. 

T’iitsk’in Spirit Ventures Ltd. (TSV), owned by the Uchucklesaht Nation in BC, recently acquired the facility through a reverse vesting order structure earlier this year under numbered company 1000832157 Ontario Inc. According to court documents, the purchaser intends to begin growing cannabis at the facility again at 1396 Balfour Street, Pelham, Ontario (previously known as the “Fenwick Premises”).

The move recently caught the eye of a Ward Councillor in Pelham, as activities at the site had begun again. Ward 1 Councillor Wayne Olson told Pelham Today that he stopped by the facility recently to introduce himself and provide suggestions on how the owners could engage with the community.  

“I told (the representative) that maybe they should have a public meeting. They seemed open to that,” Pelham Today reported Olsen as saying. 

The facility, and others in the community of Pelham, have generated a lot of negative attention from Council and some community members over the past few years regarding concerns about light, odour, and noise pollution. The facility itself was also at the centre of concerns with allegations of unlicensed activities under its previous owners.

Three executives connected to CanTrust at the time, Peter Aceto, Mark Litwin, and Eric Paul,  faced charges after the Ontario Securities Commission (OCS) and the RCMP declared they were aware of these activities. They were acquitted when the OCS decided it could not obtain a conviction. 

Mayor Marvin Junkin told Pelham Today that the town has not received any notification of the facility’s sale or the company’s plans to begin cannabis production. 

The Uchucklesaht Nation, located on the west coast of Vancouver Island, owns and operates the Thunderbird Spirit cannabis brand.

Representatives from the Uchucklesaht Nation were unavailable for comment at press time.

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