Louis Sebert

I am not sure I entirely understand the question. There is an amount set out there for offender reintegration. If that is the number that is being referred to, the $179,000, that number has been the same. Perhaps I should let Ms. Bolstad answer this question, rather than getting information second-hand and perhaps getting it wrong. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

We don't have that information before us, and I am not aware of any charges or convictions since October 17th. There may be some. Certainly we could track that kind of information. As I said, the whole point of the change was to remove this product from organized crime, but I do appreciate that there will still be those who break the law and presumably will be prosecuted, even if the drug that they are selling is marijuana or cannabis. There are still laws that presumably will be effective and used against those that are selling illegally. Thank you.

This government, all governments, are faced by an insatiable demand for new and better programs. I mean, the money has to come from somewhere. The original land transfer tax we talked about was something that was far greater than this. This generally is a tax that will fall on those who can afford it. Let's be honest with it. These are home buyers. $350, really, I don't consider that a particularly outrageous or unfair increase. Rates have not been changed in 20 years. As I say, a bigger impediment, if there is such a thing, to buying a house might be increasing mortgage rates. I mean, we are...

Thank you. We do meet with lawyers in the defence bar. I certainly do quite often. I was one until a few years ago, though the system was rolled out after I had taken on new responsibilities. I haven't heard, from the defence lawyers, complaints about this system, and they are not shy. I think they would come to me if they did have concerns. All I can say is that I haven't heard any specific concerns about this system. Thank you.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. We are going to try to get this done as soon as possible. I do realize how important it is, and it would be good if we could get it done during the life of this Assembly. We will try. I think I can leave it at that, and I do acknowledge that this should have moved ahead more quickly than it has. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Certainly, the new facility is much larger than the old one, but it also contains a large space for programming, which is, of course, a necessary component in a modern correctional complex. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Well, the legalization of marijuana, cannabis, was long contemplated, of course, going back to the Le Dain Commission in the 1970s. At least in my community, the great concern about drugs is very little with the so-called soft drugs, but with the harder drugs, which are still illegal to possess and certainly traffic. In many ways, this change, in my view, is actually helpful to the RCMP. They won't be wasting their time with minor possession charges, which, if contested, they would have to prove in the past that it was marijuana and so forth. I would hope that this would free up the police to...

Okay. Land transfer for property buys less than $1 million is currently $1.50 per thousand with a minimum fee of $100. It is going to $2. That is a 33 percent increase. Correct. Mortgages, I should go to next, are currently $1 per thousand in most cases, and that will go to $1.50, which is a 50 percent increase. Correct. Again, on the example I gave of the $400,000 house with a $300,000 mortgage, instead of paying $900, you would pay $1,250, an increase of $350.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Our belief is that it is not detrimentally affecting access to justice. Again, this is a system or type of system that has been used in the South for a long time. My understanding is that there should be no diminution of the access to justice. If there is, we will have to make sure that the system is updated and, as I say, we are rolling this out now. There may be glitches along the way. Hopefully not, but I am confident that there will be no loss of access to justice with this system. I think that is what they found down South, and that is why they have moved to this...

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. Certainly, I think I can commit to having staff communicate with the committee. I don't know if we can approach them on the basis, "Hey, there's a surplus that you need to spend," but I think we could approach them on the basis that we are looking for projects to fund. Thank you.