Robert C. McLeod

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have committed in our renewed mandate to developing a knowledge economy.

First of all, we are going to focus on advancing access to knowledge in our agricultural sector, expanding our geoscience information and implementation of the NTGS Strategic Plan, and advancing public understanding of resource development in the NWT.

The examples that the Member gave, I think, are very good examples of an initiative going forward that would work to our knowledge-based economy, and as we've heard a number of times in the past talking about with the benefits of the...

Well, as I said, it is federal law that they are working on. If they decide that it is unable to be done by the time that they have specified, then we would just have to change direction and just continue to do the work that we can to sure that we are ready for implementation once the federal government does legalize cannabis.

The Minister is not more open. The Minister is always open to having a discussion with the stakeholders and Regular Members because this is an issue that we need to make sure we get the work done and get it done properly. The fact that the date has been pushed back, as we kind of anticipated, we will continue to do our work, have the discussions with the appropriate stakeholders, and then, when the federal government does decide to roll this out, I will assure the Members, the public, and the Northwest Territories that the Government of the Northwest Territories will be ready. Thank you, Mr...

We're still working out the details, but our plan is there is going to a tax on cannabis that's sold in the Northwest Territories. As far as products that are coming from outside the Northwest Territories, I would assume that they would be taxed at their point of sale. Again, I will confirm that. We are putting the details together. I do want to provide Members with the details once we get all our information together because the government has been doing a lot of work on this and recognizing the fact that it is coming down and we need to try and deal with it and mitigate the impact it's going...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories committed in its mandate to develop a strategy to manage the resources and potential economic and environmental benefits derived from household, commercial, and industrial garbage from private sector sources in our municipalities.

As part of fulfilling this commitment, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources is currently engaging residents of the Northwest Territories on the development of a Waste Resource Management Strategy. We have already seen success with removing recyclables and electronics from...

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, in our correspondence with committee, one of the recommendations they made was a possible addition to the funding to the NWT Arts Council. In my correspondence back to committee, I have made that commitment in the form of a supplemental we would be bringing forward an increase to the contribution to the NWT Arts Council of $200,000.

As far as which areas in the Northwest Territories are actually going to be affected the most, I mean, I think the initial plan was some of the lower-priced properties won't have to pay as much, obviously. If you're living in a jurisdiction that has a fairly good economy and the prices are quite high, then your taxes are going to be reflective of that. Again, we're in the process of putting the information together, and I'd be more than happy to, once we have that put together, sit down with the appropriate committee and have that discussion and seek input from them.

As part of the review and in my conversation that I will have with the department, I want to ensure that the government gets value for money. If it means a different type of reporting, then that is something that I would commit to having a discussion with my officials about because, at the end of the day, I want to ensure that the government gets value money and there are also opportunities for a lot of smaller businesses to take advantage of some of the sole-source contracts that we have.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Member is correct. We did raise the limits. It has been well received by a lot of businesses across the NWT. Of course, there are always concerns with a lot of the initiatives that we take on. I have committed the Department of Finance to review the impact of the increase. The procurement committee is just developing the terms of reference and are looking at getting an independent contractor to review the policy.

I look forward to having the conversation with the Member because we're always interested in some of the concerns that are raised across the Northwest Territories. Not only on this particular issue, but other issues. I look forward to having that conversation. I will commit that I will follow up on any discussions that we may have as far as the timeline. As I said before, we're developing the terms of references and, as I become aware of the timeline when we actually get this out, I will keep the Member and this House informed. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.