Louis Sebert

Mr. Speaker, in designing the RFP, of course we did listen to concerns of all stakeholders, but we mainly relied on the report, the very expensive report, which was tabled in November. As I say, I don't think there are significant changes in the program. What is changing is the administration. There was an indication in the report and from what we have heard that this was a problem. We are going to make that portion of the program easier. I am hoping to make, therefore, the overall program more effective.

The RCMP, Mr. Speaker, are, of course, independent of the Department of Justice. I will ask for an expansion of the information that I have been given so that I can supply that to the Members of this House.

The information is that people could renew their lease when the current lease expires, although I am expecting, if they had the options, that many would seek actual ownership. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

No, I can't direct the RCMP to do that. I do know that the RCMP are treating this matter very seriously. I understand that they looked at these old files, and I think that was the satisfactory and correct response from the RCMP.

Mr. Speaker, I have directed Lands to place any lease that expires during this review in over-hold status for one year at the last-paid lease amount. This ensures residents will not be compelled to sign a new long-term lease before the review is complete. Hopefully, within the next year, we can resolve this issue.

There are no ivory towers in Yellowknife, Mr. Speaker, and we're constantly being asked in this House, quite properly, that decisions be evidence-based. Well, here was the evidence, the report, a very expensive report, that we received in the fall of last year. As a result of that, there were some minor changes made to the program. We went out. We attempted to solicit bids. That goes on. As I mentioned earlier, I am optimistic that an NGO will step forward.

Mr. Speaker, as Members know, the Government of Canada has made a public commitment to legalize cannabis. On April 13, 2017, the federal government introduced its proposed Cannabis Act in Parliament. The proposed Cannabis Act would set a national framework for legalizing, strictly regulating, and restricting access to cannabis. Provinces and territories will have the authority to regulate the retail distribution and sale of recreational cannabis to adults but cannot undermine the federal legislation. If passed in Parliament, the federal government intends to bring the act into effect by July...

Yes, this was a long-term Liberal commitment, but I am not certain that they have kept every one of their promises. In any case, there has not been a specific federal-provincial-territorial meeting with respect to this matter, and officials have been meeting and discussing this. Those discussions will be ongoing.

We are particularly interested in what other jurisdictions are doing. They have more resources than we do. I have heard that several of the jurisdictions may be more advanced than we are in this. However, we are intending and hoping to get this legislation in place by July 1, 2018...

That is our plan. However, we will have to work very hard on this together. As I mentioned, we will be going out to people to get their responses and their ideas with respect to this very complex issue. We do realize timelines are short. The federal government is going to be plowing ahead next July 1st, whether we're ready or not.

As mentioned previously, Mr. Speaker, we are dealing with an NGO that has expressed an interest. We are hoping that things will work out well. As I mentioned earlier, the program has not been significantly altered, in our view. Some improvements were made as a result of the evidence that we received in the report which I have referred to earlier. I want to see how the negotiations with that NGO or another NGO work out over the next few weeks. If that does not work out, we will have to reconsider.