Kevin O'Reilly

Merci, Monsieur le President. My question is for the Minister of Justice, who is responsible for leading our government's efforts on cannabis legalization. We face a unique set of challenges, as I mentioned in my statement earlier today. Can the Minister provide an update of the current state of this work, including the remaining time frame and milestones we can expect? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. One of the three seems to have a Tlicho company. I am happy to get more information from the Minister if he wants to provide it, but that does not sound the sort of Northern content that is often been used to try to drive these quests for large capital road projects by our government. If the Minister wants to provide more information, I would be happy to get it.

I do have one other question. Surely to goodness by now we must have an estimate of what the O and M costs will be on an ongoing basis for that road once it is constructed, even if it is done as a P3. Does the...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Can the Minister, without breaching any confidence, tell us what are these Tlicho companies? Because that is not the information I have been provided with to date. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I am not sure I am feeling terribly reassured about this. Maybe I will just change tack here a bit. I believe the names of the three firms, or groups or whatever, that were deemed to be qualified have been released. Can the Minister tell me whether any of those groups has any Tlicho companies? Are there any joint ventures or anything involved in any of that? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I am just trying to figure out: what is the rationale for not being able to provide the information to Members until after they have met? Surely, if you are going to put out a news release or something, you can at least provide us with the names in confidence? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I'd like to again thank the Minister for his answer in the House, and I guess once we get those enrolment figures we can look at what rolling out universal childcare would actually cost.

My next question: will the Minister prepare a detailed action plan, including deliverables and completion dates, for the introduction of universal affordable childcare in the Northwest Territories, yes or no? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

I'd like to thank the Minister for his answer and his response. Thank you. Did the Department of Education, Culture and Employment undertake any work to produce the universal childcare implementation plan called for in the 2016-2019 mandate of the Government of the Northwest Territories, yes or no?

Thanks to the Minister for that. Earlier in my opening comments I expressed some concern about whether we were delaying various projects to come up with the capital for the large infrastructure project that is in the budget. I still remain concerned about that. I do want to thank the Minister, though, for moving forward. The JK capital implementation costs, I think that was a good move. I have similar sentiments from my colleague here from Nahendeh, so I want to thank the Minister for doing that because it saved me from having to deliver a barn burner of a speech. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Merci, Monsieur le President. Thanks to the Minister for that. Glad to hear some research is being done. Perhaps that can be rolled into the "what we heard" report. Is there some sort of discussion paper that might accompany it so we can have an informed discussion or debate around that? Lastly, it is my understanding that the initial federal legalization will not deal with edible products or oils. What process will our government use for the regulation of these cannabis products? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I am not feeling really comfortable about where we are getting with this, and I know I have had constituents raising questions with me as well about how much this project is actually going to cost us. Maybe we could get a briefing or something from the Minister where he can more freely share information with us. Thanks, Mr. Chair.