Pot raid should not have happened — Sudbury-area native leader

The arrest this week of Derek Roque – co-owner of the Creator’s Choice cannabis dispensary on the Wahnapitae First Nation – should never have happened, says a band council member.

“We don’t need (an Ontario) licence to do this,” councillor Ted Roque told reporters at a protest outside the Sudbury Courthouse on Thursday, referring to the sale of cannabis. “It is the Indigenous right to be economically self-sustaining … We don’t need to get permission from the province of Ontario to do this.”

More than 20 people participated in the protest with signs bearing messages such as Free Derek Roque, I Love Indigenous Cannabis, APS Out of Wahnapitae and Stop Raids.

Roque, who was on bail when he was arrested Wednesday, was scheduled to appear in bail court Thursday.

Ted Roque said Derek did nothing wrong since the Wahnapitae First Nation approved his cannabis dispensary.

“We held a referendum with on and off-reserve members being consulted,” he said. “We had a yes vote to move forward. We developed laws concerning it.

By: Harold Carmichael The Sudbury Star

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