Louis Sebert

Yes, Mr. Chair. I thank Mr. McNeely for his comments, and I know committees as well as the government were under a lot of time pressure on this, but, between the officials that we sent around and the two committees, I believe we did visit most of the communities, not all but most of the communities, containing a pretty high percentage of the overall population. Thank you.

We had thought for some time that in no way did the lease fees cover the types of costs of administering such a huge area. So we thought there had to be an increase in any case, but apart from that, of course, there are certain things that lessees receive. One of those things is exclusive right to use the land with legal certainty. So we feel that that alone is worth quite a bit, and of course there are issues that Lands is going be having to deal with in the future, such as unauthorized occupancy. So yes, there were increases, and we feel they were justified. Thank you.

Not really. I know that this has been a divisive issue, and hopefully, at the end of this, we can come together with the best kind of bill possible. Sometimes it is said that the perfect is the enemy of the good. This is not a perfect bill, I don't think anybody would say this, but I think it is a good bill. Thank you.

There is no phase-in for individual lessees because the approach taken is to have the changes take effect during rent review or lease renewal processes. Because the changes to lease fees do not take effect until an individual lease is renewed or at the next rent review date, as stipulated, some leaseholders may not see changes for their lease fees for up to five years. This means that some leaseholders will have received, in essence, a five-year advance notification of the fee change.

As I mentioned yesterday, although it seems, when I was looking at Hansard, I may have used the wrong dates, if...

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. Well, yes, our initial plan is that it will be sold through the current liquor stores, but it's important to remember also that there will be in the future, online or mail-order schemes so that those outside of those communities that have a liquor store will have the ability to obtain marijuana. The bill doesn't limit the designation to the current liquor stores; in the future there may be other vendors that are designated. As I say, our thinking has evolved in this, thanks in part, because of the submissions that have been made by committees, and, yes, there may not...

Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chair. To my right is Mark Aitken, assistant deputy minister, Attorney General branch of Justice. To his right is Mike Reddy, director, Legislation Division, Justice, and to my left is Sandy Kalgutkar, deputy secretary to the Financial Management Board, Finance. Thank you.

I would just like to make some final comments, if I may. First of all, I would like to thank the very patient staff who have sat with me today. They have been very helpful in getting us to where we are now. There were some notes passed to me, but a little hard to read because they were from a lawyer.

I know this has been a very contentious issue, and a very difficult issue for the many reasons that have been set out, but I think this really does show how consensus government can work. I know that a tremendous amount of work was done by the committee in a very short period of time, those who...

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Hay River South, that Bill 20, Ombudsperson Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I will defer to the Member opposite. I will speak to it, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Bill 6, as it is currently drafted, provides for a secure retail regime that is ready to roll out across the territory on legalization day. If this motion was to be passed, most of the present liquor stores would have a struggle getting ready in time to begin operations when legalization occurs.

There would be engineering requirements, building permits, fire and building-code considerations, and a lot of money directed toward renovations, all during the very busy summer construction season. It certainly brings...

I don't think I can provide a timeline and a definitive answer at this time, but we will check with the department and get back to the Member opposite.