Protest Held at a Nova Scotia RCMP Detachment Over Indigenous-Owned Cannabis Stores

Organizers behind a protest held at a Nova Scotia RCMP detachment say police action against Indigenous-owned cannabis dispensaries represents a continued attack on Mi’kmaq sovereignty.

Thomas Durfee said a crowd of more than 100 people gathered at the RCMP detachment in Millbrook First Nation to protest Thursday after Mounties executed a search warrant at a cannabis store in the community and arrested one man.

Durfee said in an interview Sunday the peaceful protest involved free lobster, music and speeches from matriarchs in the community.

“We’re just here to assert our rights… It was very emotional to see a lot of the women in our community come and speak out. We had all the clan mothers there, the water protectors… many prominent voices in our community,” Durfee said.

Millbrook First Nation council member Chris Googoo told the crowd Thursday it’s important to rally behind the shop owner who he says is operating a Mi’kmaq “truckhouse,” which is a traditional trading post.

Googoo said the community has asked the RCMP not to enforce the Cannabis Act as it works to develop its own independent regulations for selling cannabis.

“We’re here to support our band member here who exercises his rights by having a treaty truckhouse, which is constitutionally protected because we have a right to trade,” Googoo said, referring to the term used for trading posts in treaties signed by the Mi’kmaq and British Crown in the 1700s.

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