The province has responded to a lawsuit from the owners of the S&M Medicinal Sweet Shoppe in Gibsons over a Feb. 18 Community Safety Unit (CSU) raid of the store, claiming the store was selling “non-medical cannabis” and falls under the CSU’s mandate and the B.C. Cannabis Control and Licensing Act.
In the suit, filed in Vancouver Supreme Court on March 9, Michelle and Doug Sikora claim the CSU enforcement action amounted to “a warrant-less search and seizure of medicinal cannabis and medicinal cannabis products from a medical cannabis dispensary,” in violation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Constitution.
The Sikoras’ statement of claim said, “The S&M Medicinal Sweet Shoppe had a temporary use permit and a business licence from the Town of Gibsons to operate as a medicinal dispensary. The TUP and business licence was granted to the Sikoras post legalization.” They argued that because S&M Medicinal Sweet Shoppe operates as a medical dispensary and the federal and provincial laws regulate the “recreational cannabis industry,” the CSU “did not have the power to enter the premises without a warrant.”
The TUP has since expired, but the company continues to hold a valid Gibsons business licence.
In the response filed Aug. 5, lawyers for the Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General, which oversees the CSU and was also named in the Sikoras’ suit, said the Cannabis Act does not violate the Charter and that S&M was selling “non-medical cannabis” and therefore subject to the Act and CSU enforcement.
“The plaintiffs kept non-medical cannabis at the Store and sold non-medical cannabis from it,” the response says. “None of the plaintiffs held a licence under the Act at any material time authorizing them to operate a non-medical cannabis store. None of the plaintiffs had lawful authorization to possess, distribute, or sell medical cannabis under the federal Cannabis Act.”
The provincial response also describes two separate CSU actions – one in June 2019 and the one in February 2020 – that led to the seizure of product and one-month shutdown.
According to the court documents, on June 19, 2019, CSU officers “documented observations of cannabis sales, and confirmed that the Store was selling non-medical cannabis without a licence” and when they returned on Feb. 18, 2020, “found that the Store was continuing to sell non-medical [cannabis the] plaintiffs possessed in contravention of the Act and the Regulation.”
The Sikoras’ lawsuit also claimed “members of the CSU searched, and seized cannabis from, Michelle Sikora’s parked personal vehicle without a warrant,” which they also pointed to as a Charter violation.
The provincial response said, “CSU officers also inspected a vehicle parked beside the door of the Store, having seen the plaintiff Douglas Sikora moving things from the vehicle to the Store. The CSU officers found cannabis in the vehicle … and seized it. The plaintiffs did not lawfully possess the cannabis.”
The province also contends the cannabis seized from the store and the vehicle was not “medical cannabis” as defined in the B.C. and federal laws.
“In conducting each inspection, the CSU inspectors had reasonable grounds to believe that the sale, supply, production, or storage of non-medical cannabis had occurred or was occurring at the store and in the vehicle,” the response said.
None of the arguments made in the province’s response or the Sikoras’ original statement of claim have been heard in court and no date has been set for the case to go before a judge.
The Sikoras have also filed an application to have the seized cannabis returned or to be compensated in lieu. There has not yet been a decision on that application.
Sun Coast Culture at 5670 Teredo St. in Sechelt, which has a cannabis retail licence application in the works, was also raided by the CSU on Feb. 18.
To date the province has only approved three retail licences for the Sunshine Coast.
