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w at er lo oc hr on ic le .c a W at er lo o C hr on ic le | T hu rs da y, Ju ne 24 ,2 02 1 | 26 STEVE PAIKIN FROM TVO'S THE AGENDA Democracy is fragile. That's the thinking behind the Toronto Star and TVO partnership, The Democracy Agenda - an in-depth look at threats facing democracy here and abroad. Tune into TVO tonight @ 8pm or 11pm ET Stream on tvo.org News Media Canada Médias d'Info Canada Google and Facebook are using their power to scoop up 80% of online revenue generated by hardworking journalists and publishers across Canada. Other governments are standing up to the web giants and protecting local news in their countries. Parliament needs to act on their commitment to protect the future of your local news. Learn more at levellingthedigitalplayingfield.ca We're up against two Goliaths. And we need more Davids. opening last weekend, Me- nendez said he saw an up- tick in sales. "But I say that very slowly," he said, adding that sales aren't close to the level he expected. For some people going into business by them- selves, Menendez said he's starting to see some hesita- tion. He doesn't think all the applications currently under review will come to fruition. "It's either a good invest- ment or a bad investment for some people," he said. "That's what it is. "It's hard to make it work, not impossible. But it's hard to make it work, and you do need some deep pockets to maintain it, let's put it that way." Other spots speculated in Waterloo include retail units on Erb Street West, Columbia Street West, Uni- versity Avenue East and Bridgeport Road East. Omar Khan, a spokes- person for High Tide Inc., which lists Canna Cabana among other subsidiaries and is the first major pub- licly traded cannabis re- tailer to be approved on Nasdaq, said not much can be done at this point to con- trol the distance between stores, as was implemented in Alberta. "If you change rules midway through the game you would have to grandfa- ther in all of the existing stores plus all of the folks that have applied under the existing rules, so that's why our focus is really based in the assumption that the market will decide," Khan said. The Cannabis Licence Act will be reviewed short- ly, he noted. "Clustering has become an issue we are hearing about within the industry," he said, "but ultimately the approach that we take at High Tide is that we're un- likely to see any govern- ment changes with respect to regulating distance be- tween stores in the near term." Khan said stores must compete by offering incen- tives for customers. One advantage High Tide has is it's line of accessories that are complementary to can- nabis products offered in store, he said. "The market tends to fa- vour retailers who offer a unique, value proposition to their consumers, and that's really what we're fo- cused on," he said. Just more han 50 per cent of all cannabis sales in Canada are still done though illegal channels, Khan noted, and that num- ber can still come down a long way, he believes. "If the government wants to drive out illicit market, they need to make the regulated market more competitive." One of biggest asks be- fore government now, he said, is for licensed retail- ers to be able to continue with online sales and home delivery. "We think it's an impor- tant tool to keep fighting against dozens of illicit market delivery services that are out there." A quick search online for delivery services in the K-W area comes up with numerous alternatives, many offering similar products at just a fraction of the price offered in li- censed retail stores. Licensed retailers say their ability to be creative with their marketing and pricing can get sticky. "Inequity runs deeper than just the number of dis- pensaries that are in the re- gion," Chamba said. "The OCS (Ontario Cannabis Store) is the only place that legal retailers can pur- chase cannabis products, but not only is OCS a dis- tributor/wholesaler to the entire retailer network, they are also our direct competitors. "How is this a fair busi- ness practice to have such an imbalance of power across the province?" NEWS Continued from page 3 'CLUSTERING HAS BECOME AN ISSUE,' SAYS POT SHOP SPOKESPERSON Sessions Cannabis at 575 King St. N., across from Conestoga Mall. Bill Jackson/Metroland