Julie Green

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I realize the government is hoping that cannabis will be a huge seller so that they can use all the revenue to fix the road to Tuktoyaktuk and build future roads, as well, but, really, the better use would be to use it for the purposes for which my colleague has just described.

I want to demonstrate some support for this idea from the youth who were here for the youth Parliament earlier this month. They passed a resolution that says this:

"Whereas the Northwest Territories has aboveaverage rates of drug and alcohol use and abuse by youth among Canadian princes...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, this prohibition could have ended in one of two ways: the government could simply have walked away from the prohibition and allowed the situation to be unregulated; and the other possibility was to go for maximum regulation. To no one's surprise, both the federal and the territorial governments have gone for maximum regulation, so that we are looking at a system where cannabis is regulated to the maximum extent of alcohol and tobacco jointly. Now people are worried about how there will be resources in place to make all of these regulations stick, and that is a...

Masi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there was some good information in that answer. Of course, I am not talking about people who are referred to the hospital. That's not the situation I am talking about. I am talking about people the staff are sending away because their behaviour is deemed unacceptable. Finally, my question is whether the Minister feels that the sobering centre operations are meeting his expectations and providing value for money? Thank you.

I am aware of a number of people who have been banned, both in the short term, meaning a day or two, and over the long term. I do not have an accurate, current number, but my question for the Minister is this: when the Disabilities Council turns away a client from the sobering centre, where are they supposed to go? Are they supposed to go to the hospital, which you worked so hard to get them out of, or where exactly? If this isn't the last resort, what is it?

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have been an enthusiastic supporter of the efforts by the City of Yellowknife and the GNWT to tackle social issues downtown. The Safe Ride Program and the sobering centre together reduce the harm intoxicated people may do to themselves, and they have made the downtown a more hospitable place for all of us to live and work. These initiatives respond to requests by residents of Yellowknife Centre to take action on what seemed to be then an ever-expanding problem.

Today, I want to focus on the operation of the sobering centre. The NWT Disabilities Council...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, this is an important recommendation. We are describing cannabis as a recreational product, and yet we have set up the regulation, as I said in my opening remarks, so that it's not possible for people to consume it in a recreational setting. They're told as well it's not advisable for them to consume it around their children, which I appreciate, but the fact is that, if we're going to legalize the recreational substance, then we need to authorize recreational places to consume it. My hope is that this will be a primary concern for this group, this...

Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Friday, June 1, 2018, I will move the following motion:

I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Great Slave, that, notwithstanding Rule 4, when this House adjourns on June 1, 2018, it shall be adjourned until Thursday, October 11, 2018;

AND FURTHER, that at any time prior to October 11, 2018, if the Speaker is satisfied, after consultation with the Executive Council and Members of the Legislative Assembly, that the public interest requires that the House should meet at an earlier time during the adjournment, the Speaker may give notice and thereupon the...

Thank you to the Minister for that answer. Let me ask the Minister if he has any current information about how many intoxicated people are being turned away from the sobering centre, or how often that happens?

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. In my statement, I talked about my expectation that the sobering centre provide shelter of last resort to people who are intoxicated rather than another place for them to be kicked out of. Can the Minister tell me whether the contract with the NWT Disabilities Council enables them to turn people away from the sobering centre and, if so, under what conditions? Mahsi.

[Microphone turned off]