Sipekne’katik First Nation members protest along Highway 102 near Shubenacadie, N.S. on Thursday.Ted Pritchard/The Canadian Press
Traffic on two Nova Scotia highways came to a standstill on Thursday after a police raid on unlicensed cannabis dispensaries in an Indigenous community triggered blockades in an escalation of tensions over the provincial government’s crackdown on unregulated marijuana.
Members of Sipekne’katik First Nation blockaded part of Highway 102 near Shubenacadie, N.S., about 50 kilometres north Halifax. And in Cape Breton, people in Potlotek First Nation shut down Highway 4, forcing RCMP officers who had raided a cannabis storefront earlier in the day to abandon their vehicles in the community and leave on foot.
Michelle Glasgow, chief of Sipekne’katik First Nation, said Thursday on social media that the protest isn’t directly about cannabis but about the province asserting jurisdiction over unceded Mi’kmaq lands.
In an e-mail Thursday afternoon, Nova Scotia RCMP said the police vehicles remain in Potlotek.
“The Nova Scotia RCMP. continues to be engaged and communications are ongoing with community leaders,” police spokesperson Cindy Bayers said.
The RCMP had raided the storefront in Potlotek at 7:30 a.m., Ms. Bayers said. “Officers safely arrested two men on the premises in relation to the federal Cannabis Act and seized cannabis products.”
Thursday’s events are the latest in an ongoing dispute between Mi’kmaw governments and the province that ratcheted up when Attorney General Scott Armstrong issued a directive to police agencies in December to increase illegal cannabis enforcement. Mr. Armstrong wrote to 13 Mi’kmaq chiefs at the time, requesting their co-operation.
Since then, police have conducted raids across the province, many of them in Indigenous communities. In March, the council of Cape Breton’s Membertou First Nation, led by Chief Terry Paul, passed a resolution saying the province and RCMP have no right to carry out enforcement on its lands. And the Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaw Chiefs, issued a statement saying raids have undermined the positive work that had been done to build relationships between the First Nations, police and the province.
Members of Sipekne’katik First Nation blockaded part of Highway 102 near Shubenacadie, N.S., north of Halifax on Thursday. The protest came as tensions escalated over a provincial government crackdown on unregulated marijuana.
The Canadian Press
The Sipekne’katik First Nation has cited the cannabis directive for banning Premier Tim Houston and several ministers from the community.
But the escalation of tensions on Thursday seemed to be about more than just cannabis. The provincial government and Mi’kmaq leaders are also in conflict over grant funding, resource extraction policies and protests on Crown land.
On Highway 102 outside of Halifax on Thursday afternoon, more than 20 Sipekne’katik community members and supporters were present at the blockade that had reduced traffic to one lane, with people holding signs, singing and playing drums.
Tara Henderson, who was among the protesters, said the province’s ongoing crackdown on First Nations-run cannabis operations has coincided with budget cuts to programs that support Mi’kmaq communities, further harming the relationship between Indigenous people in Nova Scotia and the provincial government.
“I want Tim Houston to reverse all the cuts to Mi’kmaq cultural programs, the Friendship Centre had funding cut to valuable programs,” Ms. Henderson said.
Ms. Henderson said she has children who are status members of Sipekne’katik First Nation, but that she herself doesn’t have this status and considers herself to be a community member.
Thursday’s events are the latest in an ongoing dispute between Mi’kmaw governments and the province of Nova Scotia.Ted Pritchard/The Canadian Press
She said it was important for her to show up and support Sipekne’katik and broader Mi’kmaq communities that she says have been targeted by cannabis raids.
“This is the bulldozing of our treaty rights. It’s economic warfare that Tim Houston is waging … on unceded land,” she said in an interview at the protest.
“We have a right to self-governance, this shouldn’t be happening in 2026.”
Mr. Houston has said that illegal cannabis represents a serious harm to Nova Scotians. The province allows cannabis sales only at the Crown-owned Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation locations, one of which is located in a First Nation community.
The province maintains that multiple court decisions have rejected the idea that cannabis sales are a treaty right. There are other cases involving Indigenous-owned cannabis operators currently making their way through the provincial court system.
“Federal and provincial laws govern alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis,” the government said in a statement in March. “These laws apply throughout Nova Scotia, including on reserve lands. Police are responsible for enforcement.”