FREDERICTON — A New Brunswick cabinet minister says he’s not worried an RCMP raid on a First Nations cannabis warehouse will damage government-Indigenous relations.

Indigenous Affairs Minister Keith Chiasson says his government is working on a framework to regulate cannabis sales in consultation with First Nations.

He says the government has been talking to the First Nations about the issue for the past six months.

An RCMP raid on the warehouse on New Brunswick’s Madawaska First Nation last month was one of several operations police carried out across three provinces.

A police spokesperson on Thursday told The Canadian Press the raids in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Ontario were linked to a wider investigation targeting transnational organized crime.

Nova Scotia’s Progressive Conservatives issued a directive last year for police to crack down on unlicensed cannabis shops.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 8, 2026.

Eli Ridder, The Canadian Press