“This is divisive. In no way shape or form does it promote our First Nations working together. It’s saying, ‘Here are eight licenses. There are 133 First Nations in Ontario. You fight over it,’” Day told Yahoo Finance Canada. “It’s a degrading and deplorable tactic that we have seen time and time again. The provincial government will realize very quickly that we’re not going to take the bait.”

On Wednesday, the Ontario government announced that it will issue up to eight licences for those wishing to operate a cannabis store on First Nations reserves — but Indigenous leaders and those involved with cannabis say this decision poses jurisdictional issues.

by Alicja Siekierska, Yahoo Finance, October 17, 2018 It’s a quiet, cool autumn morning in early October and Medicine Wheel Natural Healing is bustling. In the span of an hour, dozens of customers visit and crowd the counters in the shop, manned by a security guard, looking at cannabis flowers, concentrates, oils and infused topical creams available

On the south side of Rice Lake in southern Ontario, Alderville First Nation is becoming increasingly known as the ‘Green Mile,’ a moniker inspired by the number of cannabis dispensaries that have cropped up along the stretch of County Road 45 that runs through the community.

Stevenson opened Medicine Wheel Natural Healing as a medical cannabis dispensary on June 21, 2017, “and since then we’ve been just rocking it. We’re up to about 15,000 registered clients, between 200 and 250 new clients every day.”

Alderville’s cannabis stores also exemplify the challenge that First Nations businesses face, especially those which seek to pursue a legitimate business in the grey area of selling marijuana. Despite how First Nations communities are governed by federal law, Alderville has forged ahead and sold recreational cannabis ahead of Canada’s Oct. 17 legalization date. The businesses are also selling some forms of the drugs, such as edibles, which aren’t expected to become legal until October 2019.