Tom Beaulieu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That is exactly what I was thinking of: a legislative change. I think that going to the communities and having the communities vote on this type of thing sometimes works, sometimes doesn't work. People are upset over those types of decisions, but I was thinking of making a legislative change saying that an individual person can only purchase a certain amount of alcohol in a day. The limits could be adequate for most people who are using alcohol, but certainly not adequate for bootleggers. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

In my Member's statement, I spoke of the City of Yellowknife having discussing on operation hours of the liquor store. I think that the initial concept was that they would reduce the amount of hours, and it was, I think, rejected by council. I would like to ask the Minister if his department could have some form of dialogue with the City. It is quite possible that the best way to combat bootlegging with operational hours would be to have the liquor store open longer so that people don't go and feed the bootlegger, that they are able to go to the liquor store most hours that they wish to.

I am...

Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Alcohol is a big issue in our communities, including regional centres and Yellowknife. In the last government, I was the Minister of Health and Social Services for two years. I could not believe that we were spending well over a million dollars a day in that department.

As I travelled to the communities, I asked the nurses what they thought were the biggest cost drivers in their communities. In almost all cases, they said alcohol.

I believe the causes of alcohol abuse in small communities, some of the causes, can be attributed to bootlegging. Mr. Speaker, I think it is...

In Iqaluit, recently, they opened a beer-wine store, and they put some restrictions and limits on the amount of wine and beer that can be purchased by an individual, I think, like, 24 cans of beer and maybe four bottles of wine, or a combination of something. In our liquor stores, we also have that added hard liquor.

I was wondering if we should start to think about putting restrictions on the amount of alcohol an individual can purchase in one day. I know that, sometimes, these programs or ideas backfire. Preventing people from getting alcohol sometimes doesn't work. However, I think that...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member's statement, I talked about alcohol impacts on our communities. I would to ask the Minister of Finance some questions on some of the items that I thought might help, hours of operation for liquor stores and purchasing limits. I would like to ask if the Minister or his staff can begin discussing the hours of operations with the communities that have liquor stores, to see if they are amenable to looking at hours adjusted, with the thought of combatting bootlegging. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The topic in Bill 41 that appeared to be of most interest to stakeholders was the minimum age for the purchase, sale, or supply of tobacco and vaping products. Sections 1 and 4 of Bill 41 establish the minimum age at 19 years with respect to tobacco and vapour products and accessories. This is up from the current Tobacco Control Act's minimum age of 18 years. The Minister of Health and Social Services informed committee that the intention in raising the minimum age from 18 to 19 is to reduce youth uptake and be consistent with the minimum age for the purchase, sale, and...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have a question for the Minister. I am wondering why at this point, in market communities at this point, the market has gone down a bit. I think in Yellowknife you can witness that. There are the properties that were, they were trying to sell some properties. You just look at all the realtors' sites and there has been a huge drop in the market. In Yellowknife, there has been a drop in the market, a significant drop in the market, which, of course, affects everything. The market value of people's properties gives them the ability to borrow, gives them the ability to...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We have no problem dealing with the reports first. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Information and Privacy Commissioner advised committee that the rights of individuals to privacy are set aside in several instances in Bill 48 without justification. Committee sought clarification and worked with the department to address several of the privacy-related matters flagged by the Information and Privacy Commissioner, as outlined below.

The educational institutions contemplated in Bill 48 will have to collect, use, and disclose significant amounts of personal information. Most, if not all, Canadian jurisdictions include public post-secondary institutions...

Mr. Speaker, 12 years ago, when I first campaigned to be elected as MLA for Tu Nedhe, every second household I attended had a housing issue. In my first term as MLA for Tu Nedhe, I brought over 300 housing issues to the government. That was quite an accomplishment, Mr. Speaker, considering I was representing 295 households.

In any event, over the years, many of us as MLAs have all worked on housing issues and, for the past 12 years that I have been an MLA and we have had a full House in this Assembly, the core need for housing has never changed, from what I could see. I think that the last...