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CanEmpire's first Cannabis Fair, CanFest, is cancelled
Awa Diagne, president of CanEmpire, and Véronique DeBonville, co-founder, say they were subjected to a "fear campaign" by the Ministry of Health and Social Services. This forced them to cancel their event three weeks before it took place. According to them, they received a visit from MSSS agents at the beginning of the month who warned them of possible heavy fines if the event took place. This visit pushed the Complexe Capitale Hélicoptère to end the contract with them. According to Awa Diagne: "The ministry went and told information about our event that was not true. It mentioned [...] that we were going to promote cannabis, that our event was illegal, whereas no notice of non-compliance was given because nothing was deemed illegal. It was only based on predictions of what they thought was going to happen." While the event was intended to be an educational event about cannabis, the MSSS says it is quite the opposite and reminds us that it is "forbidden for anyone to associate a facility...with a name, logo, distinctive sign, design, image or slogan associated with cannabis, a cannabis brand, the SQDC or a cannabis producer. The same applies to the association with a sporting, cultural or social event. For example, organizing a cannabis festival is prohibited."