Dickson not guilty of importing cigarettes to Montana First Nation

In June, a provincial court found Robbie Dickson, president of Rainbow Tobacco G.P., not guilty of importing millions of cigarettes without a licence for resale on the Montana First Nation. However, he was convicted of two other charges under the Tobacco Tax Act for possessing tobacco not marked for tax sale and for having more than 1,000 cigarettes. Whether he will be sentenced on those two charges will depend on the results of a constitutional challenge that Dickson has filed. Dickson was charged in 2011 after the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission and the RCMP seized almost 16 million cigarettes from a warehouse on the reserve. The Alberta government said at the time that it would lose $3 million in tax revenue if the “contraband” cigarettes were sold. Court documents say the cigarettes were produced by Rainbow Tobacco on the Kahnawake reserve in Quebec and shipped to the Montana First Nation. Charges against Carolyn Buffalo, Chief of the Montana First Nation in 2011, were stayed. A lawsuit filed in 2011 by Rainbow Tobacco and the Montana First Nation against the AGLC sought damages and the return of the seized cigarettes, but the claim was dismissed. Rainbow Tobacco is located on Kahnawake Mohawk territory in Quebec.