Proposed cannabis shop ditches ByWard Market name
Market's oversight body was worried name could tarnish area's family-friendly image
The people behind a proposed cannabis store in the ByWard Market have decided its name will not to refer to the historic neighbourhood.
Instead of ByWard Market Cannabis, the shop would be called Fire & Flower York Street Cannabis.
The change comes after the group managing Ottawa's ByWard Market called for the proposed store on York Street to keep "ByWard Market" out of its name.
The arms-length municipal body Ottawa Markets made a submission to the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) asking to protect the brand of the nearly 200-year-old heritage district.
Its executive director said there was concern about how a store called ByWard Market Cannabis might affect the area's family-friendly image.
Michael Patterson, one of the retail lottery winners, said in an email Thursday that "concerned parties have all expressed their approval of the new name."
The AGCO has approved the new name pending the change being registered by Service Ontario, Patterson added.