A Nova Scotia court has ruled that selling marijuana without a licence is not protected by treaty rights, dismissing a First Nations man's constitutional challenge as unfounded.
Blacklock's Reporter says the case involved Darren Marshall, operator of The Flower Barn cannabis shop on the Millbrook First Nation, who claimed his sales were covered under ancestral rights.
Judge Ronda van der Hoek rejected the argument outright.
“The court dismissed the application before it even got off the ground,” she wrote. “A belief in a right is quite different from an understanding based on a considered analysis of a situation. Determining that a law does not accord with one’s preference does not entitle one to breach it.”
Marshall was found guilty on several charges under the Cannabis Act, including selling marijuana without the required excise tax stamp.
He received a sentence of four months in jail, followed by six months of house arrest with curfew restrictions.
Judge van der Hoek noted that RCMP had warned Marshall his operation was illegal, but he continued, insisting it was his treaty right.
The ruling also addressed a broader concern.
“This type of offence has become a widespread problem,” said the judge, referencing a growing number of unlicensed cannabis operations on First Nations lands in the province.
She noted that RCMP are actively working to shut these down.
Parliament legalized recreational marijuana in 2018 through Bill C-45, but many indigenous leaders said they were not properly consulted on how the law would affect their communities.
“We’ve met with a number of chiefs of some of the largest indigenous communities in the country who indicated they had not been consulted at all,” said Sen. Scott Tannas at the time.
Former Sen. Lillian Dyck echoed the frustration, saying indigenous communities deserved a role in shaping the rollout.
“Indigenous people are entitled to a say in how the government implements the legalization of cannabis,” Dyck said. “They have expressed real concerns to us.”
