Bonify’s Cannabis Licence Reinstated
Company May Be First in Canada to Have Its Cannabis Licence Reinstated – LPC
Winnipeg-based Bonify may be the first company to have its cannabis licence reinstated. Health Canada suspended Bonify’s licence in February over allegations of illegal cannabis sales. An investigation revealed that the company sent illegal product to retail stores in Saskatoon, Regina, and Moose Jaw. RavenQuest Biomed launched a third-party investigation after reports of contamination. At the time, it was shown as proof that the licensed producer system made cannabis safer, if procedures were followed.
Ultimately, Bonify fired four people including three executives over the incident.
Bonify CEO George Robinson called getting its cannabis licence reinstated “a landmark moment”.
“It’s a very hard process,” Robinson said. “You really have to go through now-predetermined steps to actually identify the areas [where there are issues].” The company had to show improvements in operating procedures, quality control, and security.
Robinson, who was RavenQuest’s chief executive at the time of the investigation, didn’t go into detail about the investigation itself.
“It was a deterioration of culture, potentially led by certain individuals. We’ll leave it at that,” he said.
CBC wasn’t able to confirm that this was the first cannabis licence reinstatement. Health Canada’s spokesperson said a research licence may have been reinstated at one point. (Please see below for a link to the original article.)
A Blueprint for Future Reinstatements? – LPC
In many ways, Bonify getting its cannabis licence reinstated is a landmark moment. Until now, it wasn’t clear how Health Canada would handle licence suspensions. A review process and opportunity to have a cannabis licence reinstated seemed most likely, but not guaranteed. CBC quotes Health Canada saying that a total of nine licences from six companies have been suspended since legalization in October 2018.
The highest profile case to date is CannTrust, which had its production licence suspended in July. It received an official non-compliance notification in August. Many believe that if Bonify can get its cannabis licence reinstated, CannTrust at least has a chance.
Evergreen Medicinal Supply is another company under licence suspension. However, its problems seem to go deeper due to a legal dispute with its landlord over unpaid rent.
What the Bonify story does show though is that Health Canada at least has a path now for companies to get their cannabis licence reinstated.
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