Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - February 13, 2014, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A8 A 8 WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2014 MANITOBA winnipegfreepress. com ".... the Winnipeg Free Press made clear they're not in the business of news delivery but in the business of the shaping and sharing of ideas..." " The secret to the success of the Winnipeg Free Press News Caf�? Chats and a great club sandwich" 237 McDermot Avenue | 204.697.7069 email: wfpnewscafe@ gmail. com BOOK YOUR SPECIAL EVENT TODAY Allen Adamson, Forbes Magazine Tim Curry, Harvard University What they are saying about the Winnipeg Free Press News Caf� Curr rd MANITOBA'S first private medical- marijuana production plant has moved a step closer to opening in Portage la Prairie. The company, called Medical Manitoba Green Inc., plans to transform a former sewing factory in Portage into its cannabis production base. It expects to employ 10 people to start. " They're going to do it anyway, so it might as well be in Portage and we can get the economic benefits," Portage Mayor Earl Porter said. The company has received provisional approval from Health Canada, and Portage council has approved first reading for a conditional- use permit. Second and third readings are expected to pass next week, Porter said. The company has gone through several phases of Health Canada approval. The final phase now is to build a physical facility. Ottawa announced changes last year that require medical marijuana be produced like any other pharmaceutical. For example, medical- cannabis facilities will be required to have high security systems. The changes take effect April 1. They will eliminate the current regime under which hundreds of small, licensed growers are scattered across the country and grow cannabis in their homes. Health Canada has licensed only six companies so far, and those are mainly large companies with big investment dollars backing them. At least one is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. By comparison, the upstart company of partners from Winnipeg is a team of growers banding together, said Hersh Binder, Medical Manitoba Green spokesman. Binder is not a medical- marijuana grower but his two partners, Aliza Amihude and Joseph Fullmer, are licensed growers under the old regulations. The three are backed by a team of other growers. Binder said his colleagues have extensive experience and can produce 15 to 20 different strains of marijuana. While the company doesn't have all its investors lined up yet, Binder said there is a lot of interest. Retrofitting the former sewing factory will take well over $ 1 million. The transition could take four to six months. New security measures require licensed cannabis production be locked down tight. That will include cameras and key- card access only. Regulations also include no odour or pollen leave the building. Neither will there be foot traffic. Products will be shipped by Canada Post or courier. " It's like any medical facility. It has to be done right," said Binder. Once built, Medical Manitoba Green will have to pass a final physical inspection by Health Canada. " It's really exciting to be part of a new industry, and part of an industry that's helping people," said Binder, who has a background organizing non- profit groups. There are about 500 medical- marijuana users in Manitoba, she said. bill. redekop@ freepress. mb. ca T HE brother of a 47- year- old man who died in the frigid wilderness of northern Saskatchewan during a search for a missing man says alcohol was involved. Benji Denechezhe said he found his brother Alphonse's body and his barely conscious search companion Tuesday afternoon, two days after the pair set out to look for a missing man from Lac Brochet, Man., just across the boundary in Saskatchewan. Alphonse Denechezhe's search partner, Leonard Dettanikkeaze, 40, was in critical condition. Police say the two searchers, part of the Lac Brochet Search and Rescue Rangers group, left Sunday. The man they were looking for was found safe by other searchers from Wollaston Lake, Sask., but the two Manitoba searchers didn't return. " They got stuck on the slush and they were also drinking," Benji Denechezhe said in an interview from Lac Brochet. " Somehow my brother fell asleep. When the other guy got up, my brother was already gone. " It's devastating. When it's cold and you're drinking out in the bush and there is nothing around, there are consequences." The 40- year- old searcher who survived the frigid temperatures was taken to hospital in critical condition. The Rangers operate under the Department of National Defence. They provide patrols and run search- andrescue missions in sparsely populated areas of Western Canada that cannot be conveniently or economically covered by the Canadian Armed Forces. Capt. Steven Parker, the spokesman for the 4th Canadian Ranger Patrol Group, said Wednesday the searchers were off duty at the time, adding no request was received to do the mission. Pierre Bernier, vice- principal of Petit Casimir Memorial School in Lac Brochet, is a member of the Rangers group and a close friend of Denechezhe, who has five children and several grandchildren. " It's been a tough few days. You see it in the faces of the kids here in school," Bernier said. " I have known these families for a while. Alphonse was a very good buddy, and Leonard is a good guy, too." RCMP Sgt. Craig Cleary said it appears the snowmobile the men were using might have broken down. " There was some indication that the snowmobile was experiencing some mechanical issues," Cleary said. " There is no doubt in my mind that the elements ... did definitely factor into how things turned out, unfortunately." The RCMP couldn't comment on whether alcohol was involved, but Cleary did say foul play is not suspected. An autopsy will be performed to determine the cause of death. Benji Denechezhe said his brother was well- known and liked in the community. The 47- year- old had recently toured with musician Neil Young, opening for him along with other Dene drummers as Young held a series of concerts to raise money for an Alberta First Nation. Alphonse Denechezhe had been a Ranger for 10 years and knew how to survive in the wild, his brother said. " He was very humorous," Denechezhe said. " He always had a smile and a joke to share with anybody. That's the kind of person he was. That's what I'm going to miss. Our family is very close. It's a great loss to us." Bernier said a toboggan being pulled by the snowmobile, loaded with supplies, was found on the other side of an island from where Alphonse's body was discovered. " They must have lost their toboggan because they didn't have their equipment... When you're that wet and cold, hypothermia settles in." - The Canadian Press, with files from Free Press staff Dead searcher's brother says pair were drinking It's ' a great loss' for Lac Brochet family Portage on verge of pot plant Firm would produce medical marijuana By Bill Redekop ROBERT F. BUKATY / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES A bud of legal marijuana. If approved, the Medical Manitoba Green Inc. factory in Portage would be a Manitoba first. A_ 08_ Feb- 13- 14_ FP_ 01. indd A8 2/ 12/ 14 10: 45: 44 PM ;