Kieron Testart

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when examining the cases that have gone in front of the rental officer, there are many that seem to be a result of the lack of willingness of the parties to work it out on their own and some misunderstanding of what the rental officer can do. I would suggest to the Minister, because I am not all about criticism and would like to give him some solutions today, that perhaps he commit some resources to educating potential landlords and tenants of their responsibilities and rights under the Residential Tenancies Act. Is he willing to put forward some education...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you to the Minister for his responses. Nothing further. Thank you.

The Minister knows as well as I do that it ought to be 60 days, period. The number of caseloads isn't going to be reduced in the foreseeable future. The backlog is only adding more. Clearly, this new position isn't enough. Can the Minister commit to increasing the employees to the rental officer, or at least developing a proposal for the business plans to bring more resources into that office, more human resources into that office?

Is the Minister in a position to answer any detailed information about the procurement of cannabis supply, including potential cannabis products that will be made available through retailers in the Northwest Territories and the names of suppliers that the government has spoken to? Is the Minister able to answer any of those details? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I rise today to speak to a matter that is very familiar to the floor of this House. That is the backlog of cases that exist with the rental officer of the Northwest Territories. The honourable Members for Hay River North and Yellowknife Centre have risen to attempt to get some sort of resolution to this matter. I commend their work on this important issue.

The rental officer exists as the final arbiter between the various tenants, both public and private, in our Territory, resolving matters pertaining to rent arrears but also property damages, disturbances, and the...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So I specifically asked around the procurement of liquor for the purposes of retail sales. Can the Minister confirm the other purposes the fund is currently used for? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So from the committee's review of the legislative proposal, our committee's understanding was that it was to absorb the anticipated cost of cannabis. I hear from the Minister now that that's not in fact the case; it's just more or less a housekeeping amendment to modernize or update the bill since 1990. As the Minister has indicated, this increase could be used for the procurement of cannabis. Can the Minister comment on whether or not a supply agreement has been reached with a cannabis producer? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would like to ask for a recorded vote. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. As Chair of the Standing Committee on Government Operations, the committee has reviewed the legislative proposal and I'll speak to that now. Standing Committee on Government Operations reviewed the legislative proposal 18-6, An Act to Amend the Revolving Funds Act, on April 20th, 2018. The committee understands that the authorized limit of the Liquor Revolving Fund must be increased in order to enable to Liquor Commission to prepare for the impacts associated with the addition of cannabis sales to its operations. Given the tight timelines associated with the review of...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. This was not one of the committee motions, but I am glad the mover has brought this forward because it is an important issue, and we did hear a lot about the age limit. Many Members spoke to the minimum age for consumption. I know that this motion does not change that or propose to change that.

The mover also spoke about the jurisdictions of the states with a minimum age of 21. They also have a minimum age of 21 for the consumption of alcohol. In the European countries that have legalized cannabis, their ages are much lower, lower than what is being proposed: 18 in the...