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In this educational episode of the Legacies Podcast, hosts Tom Ritchie and Wesley Bowles discuss the True North/vancor group CCAA creditor protection filing and its impact on 285+ employees. They analyze the Manitoba Cannabis MB RFQ process for four new retail stores, criticizing the lack of compliance-friendly email marketing in retail. The hosts also touch upon recent developments in AI, comparing ChatGPT’s brute-force computing with DeepSeek’s optimized code, as well as St. Vincent landrace strain tracking and the copy-pasting of regulations in the Caribbean.
Later, they are joined by George Goulakos and Patrick Pagé of Great White North Growers (GWNG). George discusses his journey from playing hockey (drafted by the Montreal Canadiens) and CTV broadcasting manager to co-founding GWNG, detailing the company’s pivot from aeroponic growing to co-packing, logistics, and multi-province distribution. Lead cultivator Patrick Pagé, recently named Canada’s Top Grower, details his career path from a professional cook to trimming at Aurora, learning under the Clement brothers at MTL Cannabis, and managing GWNG’s cultivation strategy. The guests discuss the logistics and market demand of growing classic cultivars like Amnesia Haze, the environmental savings of 30-joint jars over individual tubes, and export opportunities to Germany.
Tom Ritchie Says: Hey, what’s going on, everyone? Check out what’s coming up this week on Legacies!
Patrick Pagé Says: I went in there, I sat down, I lit it, and I just looked around in that room and I was like, “No, I know I need to stop this. I’m not one of these people.”
George Goulakos Says: I’ve been wanting to get on this show for so long. Tom, thanks for having me.
Tom Ritchie Says: And of course! The check you sent over really helped, so yeah. That check really helps, thank you very much!
Patrick Pagé Says: It’s the same thing that it’s been since day one: I still can’t believe that this is my job and this is what I get to do.
Tom Ritchie Says: Let’s see. I’d love to see that happen, and if it did, it came from us. This idea came from us!
Tom Ritchie Says: Hey, welcome to Legacies, everyone. I’m your host, Tom Ritchie, joined by Mr. Wesley Bowles. Wes, good morning! I see you got your ears lowered, as we used to say back in the day. My grandpappy used to say that!
Wesley Bowles Says: Yeah, or what is it now—high and tight? Just ask for a zero to one, high and tight, and a little off the top. Didn’t get a Brazilian blowout!
Tom Ritchie Says: No, I don’t have the facilities for that, unfortunately. I did in my high school days! I had shoulder-length hair—I looked like Prince Charming.
Wesley Bowles Says: You looked like Prince Charming?
Tom Ritchie Says: Yeah, I had the shoulder length and it flicked! I had the parted hair. I’ll put a photo up. I’ll send you my Flock of Seagulls hairdo from my grade nine or ten high school photo. We’ll put them side by side. Sometimes when people tell you they used to have a haircut, you can’t picture it, but that one I can picture 100%. I went through my phases—Vanilla Ice, Flock of Seagulls in the late ’80s. I’m dating myself now!
Tom Ritchie Says: In that picture with the long hair, you could tell I was a high school drummer. You could just tell by looking at it! And I was a high school dropout. I hated school, man. I hated it. I just could not conform to: “You need to sit here and learn this.” Eventually I said forget it, went to work, and years later went and wrote my GED. That was the fast track!
Wesley Bowles Says: I remember two or three standout teachers where I recall those classes vividly and actually learned genuinely helpful stuff. Teachers aren’t paid well, and I know what they go through, but a lot of them just weren’t enthused.
Tom Ritchie Says: Back in my advertising days, we’d go to Ad Week, and there’d be week-long events with panels talking about campaigns. If you don’t have a charismatic individual at the front of the class or on stage, that material is dry and boring.
Tom Ritchie Says: I have a lot of trouble with standard curriculums. They do not teach enough about accounting and budgeting at all. And I think they do that on purpose! They also don’t teach enough about politics and understanding how the Canadian political scene works alongside U.S. politics.
Wesley Bowles Says: The only time I remember learning about government was in history class, and it was always framed historically or through the teacher’s bias. It’s important to understand how we got here, but there was nothing on modern governance.
Tom Ritchie Says: My son is heading into Grade 12 now. He’s a really smart kid, but he hates school. He’s very much like me. They should be teaching foundational life skills like budgeting and practical civics. Most of what you memorize in school you forget, especially now when everything is accessible on a smart device.
Wesley Bowles Says: Looking back, the most helpful part of school was developing social skills. I met people who pulled me out of my shell and shaped my personality, and I’m still friends with them today. The last two years of high school and the two years right after were a sweet spot: having a job, some money coming in, and minimal responsibilities.
Tom Ritchie Says: I moved out when I was 15 into my own apartment, which was probably why I dropped out and missed classes. I was working and had an older friend group, but I’m still friends with all of them today.
Tom Ritchie Says: I see our TV display in the background rolling with the Stewart Farms widget—free promotion! We’ll send an invoice. And I caught up with our buddy Jay Rosenthal yesterday; his son’s team won their football championship. Jay is a big Chiefs fan. Chiefs and Eagles again—I’m not a huge football fan, but I watch the Super Bowl like everyone else.
Tom Ritchie Says: In Canadian politics, Pierre Poilievre apparently won’t be receiving direct CSIS intelligence briefings anymore because he refused to take an oath of secrecy that would prevent him from speaking publicly or addressing constituents about what he learns. I can respect that principle—he doesn’t want to be muzzled.
Wesley Bowles Says: It’s hard to see a clear, positive path forward in federal politics right now.
Tom Ritchie Says: Shane Morris shared a Saturday Night Live skit where doctors conduct medical visits as a live podcast. I was thinking: maybe we could sign people up for Mendo Medical right on the podcast! Just set up patient intake over the air: “What ailments are you facing? Sleep issues? PTSD? Thirty-five gram daily allotment approved!”
Tom Ritchie Says: Back in the early MMAR and MMPR days, getting your medical document was done through specialized lawyers and doctors. People walked out with 25 or 35 grams per day. In those days, a one-gram-per-day prescription entitled you to grow five plants at home, so a 35-gram allotment meant 175 plants! Derek Pedro had one of the largest daily allotments ever granted—over 130 grams per day—because he had to demonstrate to a regulatory panel how he extracted trichomes to make medicinal teas. That makeshift facility laid the groundwork for modern commercial genetics.
Tom Ritchie Says: Our friend Ian Scott over at Plantlife sent over a great care package! He was busting my chops about my Canucks hat, so he sent an Edmonton Oilers-themed Plantlife snapback. Gorgeous blue and orange flat brim.
Tom Ritchie Says: And even better, he included a physical copy of The Budtender’s Guide to the Galaxy by Dylan Brooks. It’s an actual signed paperback reference guide detailing Canadian cannabis cultivars, lineages, cannabinoid ratios, and terpene profiles. I thought it was just going to be a printed PDF, but it’s a comprehensive reference book.
Wesley Bowles Says: That’s an incredible resource. It breaks down first impressions, genetic backgrounds, and sensory observations across major Canadian cultivars.
Tom Ritchie Says: One thing that always frustrated me was the bastardization of strain names. When accidental cross-pollination happens in a grow room, growers often just slap a random new name on the resulting seeds. I love being able to trace genetic lineage back to original landraces. Remember the show Strain Hunters? They traveled to places like St. Vincent and the Grenadines looking for pure ancestral genetics.
Tom Ritchie Says: In honor of our guests today from Great White North Growers, I’ve got my 514 shirt on! They also sent over an ashtray, which you rarely see these days. Speaking of ashtrays, Wes, what do you have over there?
Wesley Bowles Says: I have this solid RAW crystal glass ashtray. It weighs a metric ton and looks like a polished crystal block. My girlfriend bought it for me for Christmas because I pointed it out in a dispensary, but I had already gone out and bought it myself a couple of weeks earlier and ruined the surprise!
Tom Ritchie Says: Rule number one: never buy yourself anything in the two months leading up to Christmas!
Wesley Bowles Says: I don’t smoke flower inside, especially in the winter; I’ve just been vaping the Wildcard Extracts live resin collab with VCC. Remember back in the day when people smoked inside bars and bingo parlors?
Tom Ritchie Says: Oh yeah! Bingo halls had massive glass partitions, and over the years, that plexiglass became completely stained nicotine yellow. That reminds me of the moment I decided to quit cigarettes: I had a layover at the Atlanta airport, and they had that sealed glass smoking room in the middle of the terminal. I sat down, lit a cigarette, looked around at the cloudy room, and said to myself, “I need to stop this. I am not one of these people.” That was it for me.
Tom Ritchie Says: We read on StratCann that Cannabis NB issued an RFQ for four additional private retail stores in New Brunswick. Following Chris Jones’s discussion on our last episode, I really appreciate the New Brunswick Crown model’s structured RFQ process. In Ontario, the open-market free-for-all has created massive retail instability.
Tom Ritchie Says: Case in point: True North Group—the Vancor Group—recently filed for creditor protection under the CCAA. Vancor or its subsidiaries reportedly mortgaged and owned the underlying commercial real estate for 27 or 28 of their store locations. It’s essentially the McDonald’s real estate strategy applied to cannabis retail.
Tom Ritchie Says: I love real estate, but staking millions of dollars into commercial property early on in a brand-new, volatile, and immature industry carries massive balance sheet risk. True North has around 48 locations and nearly 300 employees. We hope those retail workers and store staff are protected throughout the insolvency restructuring.
Tom Ritchie Says: I’ve visited several True North locations and signed up for their email VIP program multiple times, and I receive absolutely nothing. Retail email marketing in Canadian cannabis is a massive lost opportunity.
Wesley Bowles Says: Stok’d Cannabis is the gold standard here. Even if you’re not shopping that day, Lisa Bigioni and the Stok’d team send out a clean, beautifully formatted newsletter twice a week highlighting fresh drops and educational guides.
Tom Ritchie Says: Retailers complain constantly about margin compression and foot traffic, yet customers voluntarily give their email addresses at the cash register, and the dispensary sends zero follow-up communication! Sending an automated email about weekly arrivals or holiday specials drives immediate basket size increases and builds top-of-mind brand loyalty.
Wesley Bowles Says: Many stores are already paying monthly software subscriptions for tools like Klaviyo or ContactMonkey, and the software just sits there unused. There are countless free tutorials and AI tools that can help draft retail newsletters in minutes.
Tom Ritchie Says: Speaking of AI, everyone is talking about DeepSeek. I’m cautious about data privacy when it comes to offshore platforms, but what they accomplished technically is fascinating.
Wesley Bowles Says: DeepSeek reportedly trained their model for approximately $5.6 million, compared to the billions spent by OpenAI. Rather than relying purely on massive GPU brute force, they heavily optimized algorithmic efficiency to achieve high reasoning performance with fewer computing resources.
Tom Ritchie Says: That announcement wiped out billions in tech market cap because it challenged the assumption that AI development requires infinite high-end chip expenditures. With data centers requiring massive electrical power, Canada has a major competitive advantage with affordable hydroelectric power.
Wesley Bowles Says: Competition in AI is essential. Having multiple models and open architectures prevents a single entity like OpenAI from monopolizing the infrastructure. Let’s bring on our guests: George Goulakos and Patrick Pagé from Great White North Growers!
Tom Ritchie Says: Welcome back, everyone! We are joined by George Goulakos and Patrick Pagé of Great White North Growers. Gentlemen, welcome to Legacies!
George Goulakos Says: I’ve been wanting to get on the show for so long, Tom! Thanks for having us.
Tom Ritchie Says: Patrick, you’re wearing the 514 shirt—we are twinning today! George, before entering cannabis, you were a serious hockey player and had a long broadcasting career. Who did you play for back then?
George Goulakos Says: I played collegiate hockey for St. Lawrence University in upstate New York. I was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens and tried out for the Habs in 1978 and 1981. In life, you have different chapters: first hockey, then a long career in television broadcasting with a local CTV affiliate, and now cannabis. It keeps me energized, even though this industry has presented unique challenges across every single department.
Tom Ritchie Says: What made you transition from broadcasting into cannabis?
George Goulakos Says: I was always an adult-use consumer. When commercial broadcasting began consolidating, I was sitting with my business partner Peter and said, “I told my grandchildren I missed the dot-com boom, and I missed the telecom boom. I’m not going to miss legal cannabis.” A couple of weeks later, Peter called and said he had secured an application site. We applied in 2018—I believe we were application number 300—and sold our first flower in the fall of 2020.
George Goulakos Says: Like many early licensed producers, we initially attempted aeroponics because it looked incredible on paper. When that proved impractical, we were humble enough to recognize our mistakes and pivot. We utilized our standard processing and sales licenses to become a contract packaging, compliance, and logistics hub for micro-cultivators.
George Goulakos Says: We have qualified over 40 licensed producers and currently work with approximately 30 craft micros across ten Canadian provinces. Many talented cultivators want to focus purely on growing flower without navigating provincial board listings, logistics, and excise compliance. By aggregating shipping and packaging volumes, we reduce overhead for our partner growers.
Tom Ritchie Says: Patrick, how did you get your start in commercial cultivation?
Patrick Pagé Says: I worked as a professional cook for years and loved culinary work, but commercial kitchens don’t pay well. I had always been passionate about plants and cannabis. When legal production began, I felt strongly that you can’t complain about the quality of legal cannabis unless you’re willing to get your hands dirty and do the work yourself.
Patrick Pagé Says: I got hired at Aurora as a trimmer and worked through virtually every cultivation role—gardening, feeding, harvesting, and pest management. I moved out to New Brunswick for a project, then returned to Montreal and joined MTL Cannabis. I received incredible mentorship from the Clément brothers and seasoned growers in the Quebec community. I spent every waking hour studying plant science and refining canopy management through hands-on trial and error.
Tom Ritchie Says: George, how did the introduction between you and Patrick come about?
George Goulakos Says: We had cycled through three previous growers unsuccessfully. In this business, if you aren’t humble enough to admit when something isn’t working, you’re fooling yourself. Alexandre from MTL Cannabis called me and said, “I have your next head grower.” We met on a dark, cold night outside a gathering in Old Montreal on the cobblestone streets. Patrick had his hood up—tall guy, quiet confidence.
George Goulakos Says: When Patrick visited our facility, he saw a clean slate where he could put his personal stamp on the operation. Bringing Patrick in transformed Great White North and our 514 brand completely—not just his technical knowledge of plant nutrition, but his calm work ethic and leadership style.
Tom Ritchie Says: Patrick, what appealed to you about joining Great White North?
Patrick Pagé Says: At my previous role, the operation had grown so massive that I was spending 40 hours a week at a desk handling administrative paperwork. I need to be in the canopy with the plants. Great White North had decommissioned their aeroponic towers and had single-tier growing rooms that provided an ideal blank canvas.
Patrick Pagé Says: I loved George and Peter’s vision: maintaining an in-house cultivation footprint dedicated purely to craft flower under our 514 brand, while simultaneously supporting other micro-growers through packaging and distribution. Being named Canada’s Top Grower was an honor, but I don’t believe I’m the only person growing great cannabis. Providing a platform that brings exceptional flower and hash from other independent cultivators to national shelves is genuinely rewarding.
Tom Ritchie Says: Hazes are notoriously difficult cultivars to grow—they have long flowering cycles and stretch aggressively. What made you decide to focus on Amnesia Haze?
Patrick Pagé Says: Great White North had an extensive seed bank that included Amnesia Haze genetics that had never been popped. Rather than chasing every short-lived dessert cross or sweet dessert strain on social media, we wanted to establish our own distinct lane with a timeless, world-renowned classic. If you walk into any coffee shop in Amsterdam, Amnesia Haze has maintained a permanent spot on the menu for decades because consumers consistently return to it.
George Goulakos Says: I look at it like premium spirits: consumers might experiment with flavored liqueurs, but there is always a staple bottle of Johnnie Walker Black or Belvedere in the cabinet. There is immense market clutter with new crossbreeds every month. By dedicating ourselves to cultivating the finest, dialed-in Amnesia Haze in Canada, we build enduring brand loyalty instead of constantly chasing transient trends.
Tom Ritchie Says: Outside of Amnesia Haze, if you could release any dream cultivar without commercial constraints, what would it be?
Patrick Pagé Says: In a perfect world, I would love to hunt a true, authentic cut of OG Kush. Another nostalgic favorite would be an old-school UK Blue Cheese—that pungent funk that completely took over an apartment the moment you opened the bag.
Tom Ritchie Says: I’d love to see someone bring back a true 1990s Maui Wowie with 18% to 20% THC and classic tropical pine terpenes. Not everything needs to test at 35% THC.
Tom Ritchie Says: Tell us about the 514 brand portfolio and where products are currently distributed.
George Goulakos Says: We distribute across multiple provinces. In Alberta, we have our Old Port Hash and Fletchers outdoor flower. In Ontario, our Biscotti vape is gaining strong traction. All 514 products are named after iconic Montreal streets and landmarks, resonating with Quebecers and expat Montrealers across Canada.
George Goulakos Says: In Quebec, our 30-pack pre-roll jar is extremely popular. We package 30 pre-rolls into a single reusable glass jar rather than using ten separate plastic tubes. It drastically reduces single-use packaging waste and offers substantial per-unit savings to the consumer. We are pitching the 30-pack format to the OCS for Ontario distribution right now.
Tom Ritchie Says: The industry’s single-use plastic waste is out of control. Packaging 30 joints in one glass jar is common sense, and provincial wholesale boards should fast-track multi-packs that reduce landfill impact.
Tom Ritchie Says: Many Canadian producers are pivoting their business models entirely to medical export markets like Germany and Australia. What is Great White North’s strategy regarding international export?
George Goulakos Says: We are completing our EU-GMP certification and plan to conduct test shipments to Germany in the coming months. However, we have made the firm strategic decision that we will never shortchange our Canadian domestic supply. We built 514 for Canadian consumers first. We will only export surplus lots.
Patrick Pagé Says: Many European indoor facilities face severe structural hurdles with high electricity costs, strict municipal water consumption quotas, and stringent wastewater restrictions. Quebec’s clean hydroelectric power allows us to cultivate top-tier craft indoor flower at a production cost that European indoor growers struggle to match.
Tom Ritchie Says: What do you believe separates a sustainable contract processing and packaging partner from operators who have failed?
George Goulakos Says: Financial integrity. Many micro-growers contact us because their previous processors withheld payments for 90 to 120 days to shuffle cash between accounts. When a cultivator delivers flower to Great White North, we process, package, distribute, and pay them on time. We run a transparent, accessible operation where partners can pick up the phone and talk directly to ownership.
George Goulakos Says: On the quality control side, we have an exceptional team member we affectionately call the “Rain Man of Cannabis.” During lot inspection, if there is a single trace of micro-mold anywhere in a batch, he identifies it immediately before anything enters our packaging lines. That protects our brand and our retail partners.
Tom Ritchie Says: What a fantastic conversation with George and Patrick. Great White North is proving that operational discipline, respect for growers, and dialing in timeless genetics like Amnesia Haze create long-term viability.
Wesley Bowles Says: And their 30-pack pre-roll format is exactly what the retail market needs to address excessive packaging waste.
Tom Ritchie Says: Here’s a retail concept for dispensary owners: adopt the Shoppers Drug Mart fragrance sampler model. Sell a curated 5-pack or 10-pack of craft pre-roll samples where the customer tries different brands and receives a voucher to redeem for a full-sized unit of their favorite! Let’s get out to Montreal this summer to visit Great White North, Mendo, and the MTL Cannabis crew. Thank you for listening to Legacies—don’t forget to subscribe, and we’ll see you next week!
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Co-Founder & President
George Goulakos is a Canadian broadcasting and cannabis entrepreneur, and co-founder of Great White North Growers.
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Licensed Cannabis Producer & Distributor
Great White North Growers (GWNG) is a licensed cannabis producer operating an indoor cultivation and processing facility in Montreal, Quebec....
Learn More About Partner ↗Great White North Growers is a Montreal-based licensed producer and logistics provider specializing in copacking, distribution, and third-party logistics for micro-producers and licensed brands.
Lead cultivator Patrick Pagé notes that Amnesia Haze is a classic sativa cultivar with consistent demand in international markets like Amsterdam, providing a stable alternative to short-term exotic hybrid trends.
By packaging pre-rolls in a 30-joint drum/jar instead of standard individual or 5-pack plastic tubes, 514 significantly reduces the amount of single-use plastic waste per unit.
