By Dan Walton
Special to the Chronicle
Oliver might be just as ideal for growing marijuana as it is grapes, and that’s why Okanagan entrepreneur Tony Holler is boldly investing in the construction of Canada’s largest pot-producing facility.
His marijuana business Sunniva Inc. may soon become a major tenant at the Osoyoos Indian Band’s Senkulmen Business Park.
It will be a 700,000 square-foot greenhouse built to take advantage of the South Okanagan’s abundant sunlight. Everything will be grown indoors, where artificial lights will be able to augment steady conditions during cloudy and cooler weather.
The facility will be constructed in two phases. Holler is hoping ground can be broken as soon as the second quarter of 2018 in order for the first phase to be functional by the end of 2019’s first quarter.
“The Oliver-Osoyoos area gets the most sunlight of any place in B.C. and it has the right climate – it’s not too cold in the winter and it’s hot in the summer,” Holler said, adding that he expects a yield of 125,000 kilograms each year.
“The big reason we’re negotiating a lease with the Osoyoos Indian Band is because they have a huge industrial park which is already serviced.”
Holler said finding a location that can facilitate enough water and electricity for such a giant factory is normally a major challenge.
“The major costs are energy, electricity and labour. Since you can get sunlight for free obviously that’s a huge advantage,” he said. “We recycle all the water, use the sun as an energy source so the needs aren’t as high as an indoor facility. It even has geothermal, so from an environmental standpoint you’ve got the ideal situation.”
With such a massive operation, Holler said the facility will have the capacity to harvest the plant regularly, unlike grapes, which can only be harvested seasonally.
The structure will cost $100 million to build and will employ up to 200 people, mostly high-skilled workers.
“This is not a facility that can be run with unskilled employees.”
Sunniva won’t be Holler’s first time dabbling with mind-altering agriculture – he’s the owner of Poplar Grove Winery in Penticton.
Since the cannabis industry is in its pioneer stage, Holler will be marrying two types of wisdom – he’ll be recruiting people with experience working in giant greenhouses, as well as those who are experienced in growing marijuana.
Much of the product will be used for medical purposes, so Holler said it’s crucial for his business to comply with good manufacturing practices.
“We plan to sell the product only on the medicinal market ourselves,” he said. “But we’re going to have partners that we’ll supply who will do both medicinal and recreational.”
Holler said the medical community is continually furthering its understanding of the benefits of marijuana.
Osoyoos Indian Band Chief Clarence Louie said the proposal may or may not happen, depending on the federal government granting Holler a licence.
“Like all leases, it’s about more lease income, tax revenue and jobs,” he said.
Louie acknowledged there are always some people who don’t like anything.
“Some call down logging yet live in houses with grade A lumber. Some call down mining yet wear metal, and everyone eats with metal; I don’t know any adult that eats with their hands.”
Oliver Town Councillor Larry Schwartzenberger said the proposal, like the Okanagan Correctional Centre, will bring 200-plus new jobs to the Oliver area which will boost employment opportunities and economic growth.
“My only concern would be the odour from a facility this large,” he said, noting one news story indicated this would be a state-of-the-art facility designed in Europe with odour mitigation to prevent the smell of cannabis from spreading beyond the facility.
Schwartzenberger said having the cannabis facility and the prison in the same business park with roughly 450-plus employees could cause extra traffic along Tucelnuit Drive. The councillor stated that while the Town has no jurisdiction outside of its boundaries, perhaps the regional district could explore methods to make access to the business park more difficult from Tucelnuit Drive, and encourage traffic to access the two facilities via Highway 97.
Town Councillor Petra Veintimilla said if the marijuana facility will bring 200 jobs to the area, it’s good news for Oliver.
“I would of course need to see more information before formulating a full opinion on the proposal.”
(With files from Lyonel Doherty)
