Tom Beaulieu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want Cabinet to pull out all stops so that we can start seeing our most respected citizens, our elders, remain in their homes, in their communities, whether it be Fort Smith, Colville Lake, Yellowknife, Lutselk'e, Fort Resolution, or Detah. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Marsi cho Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to again recognize the two Pages from my riding who are here working for us today. They are Alexa Mandeville-Pasowisty and Santina Vanloon. I would also like to recognize their chaperone, Meghan Adams. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I move the chair rise and report progress. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I will be supporting this motion. I think, in the NWT, I noticed that for the people that I am familiar with where I grew up in a small community and that, many people started smoking marijuana to get away from alcohol because alcohol is devastating. Alcoholism is a devastating disease.

It was interesting today, in a news report, they talked about how the hospitalization of people as a result of alcohol is six times higher in the NWT than it is in the rest of Canada, six times, and we're worrying about spending a few dollars to close off one area of the...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I travelled with the southern group. I guess the main thing that I just want to touch on a bit would be the education or research aspect of cannabis.

We went to three schools. We talked to high school students in three different schools, as you know, Mr. Chair, and it appeared as though the students themselves were fairly up to speed on cannabis. It is very easy for students to do research, not like when we were in high school. We had to go through a lot of books in order to educate ourselves. Now students see a lot of things on the Internet, and it is...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I was more or less asking that the responsibility be brought back to Lands for the purpose of negotiations.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister if there was any discussion at all during negotiations about the tax bills, if there is any specific table that he is involved with or his department is involved with on the taxes that are accumulated in the communities by the residents of the non-tax-based communities. Thank you.

Prior to devolution, April 2014, the federal government had responsibility for the federal lands, or Crown lands, it was referred to as, in which harvesters were on the land with cabins harvesting whatever, whether it be furs or they were hunting or berry-picking or fishing, whatever the people using the cabins were doing. The federal government was not taxing them. I would like to know why the decision was made to start taxing cabins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I would like to recognize two Pages from my riding, two Pages from Fort Resolution, Alexa Mandeville-Pasowisty and Santina Vanloon. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, this is a complex area, and considering we are talking about, I suppose it's the Criminal Code of Canada, and that it would take some doing. That is the reason we are calling for this government to work with the federal government. It is certainly not a simple procedure. It is not a simple procedure, like I said. It will involve more than just a criminal record of an individual who could have a charge or two for possession of marijuana, but then, it's quite possible that individuals have other criminal records. We really have to clearly define which...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chairman, committee wishes to consider Tabled Document 7-18(3), Report on the Review of Bill 6: Cannabis Legalization and Regulation Implementation Act. Thank you, Mr. Chair.