Kieron Testart

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member's statement, I talked about the early results of the Ontario Basic Income Pilot project. Some of the comments from people in the program: "It's given me back my independence," "I don't feel backed into a corner," "If I want to eat, I can afford to buy something instead of going to a food bank or soup kitchen." These are the kind of progressive policies that are moving the working poor forward in the province of Ontario. Will the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment speak to any analysis that his department has done on a guaranteed basic income...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I was involved in that process, and I appreciate the work that is going into that. One of the areas that is up for discussion in the strategic discussions around manufacturing is converting the current list policy, where you have to be registered as a manufacturer to receive the preferential purchasing, shifting that to a labour market subsidy so that you actually subsidize manufacturing operations to encourage employment. I think that is a viable option that is perhaps preferable to the current system.

If that example were undertaken, it would require an additional source...

Regulations and legislation are of course different. I am just wondering: are we talking about legislative change or regulatory change? The Minister can change the regulations today if he wanted to. Can the Minister clarify? Thank you.

By how much? Thank you.

So one of the details, if the Minister can confirm this, but one of the details the department is willing to commit to today is that liquor stores are going to be the primary agency for distributing cannabis products in the Northwest Territories. Is that correct?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my Member's statement, I talked about the importance of engaging young people in future decisions and current decisions, as well. So I'd like to ask the Minister responsible for Youth how this government goes about engaging youth in the Northwest Territories when they are making decisions around government spending, legislation, and other major policy decisions? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am on page Roman numeral XV. So the first item on this page is shortterm debt less than 365 days, so the difference between the two columns is $2 million. So is it anticipated that we'll have cleared off $2 million from shortterm, from our balance of shortterm debt, by the end of the fiscal year? Am I reading that right? Thank you.

Thank you, and I agree with that kind of assessment of where the costs are coming from. It's less the administration, if we do follow this model. So the cannabis revenues that come in, some jurisdictions have committed to use all of the revenues to support public health initiatives, and certainly addictions treatment is a major concern in the Northwest Territories. So the Minister or his official spoke to how we are going to see the cannabis revenues in the main estimates, and by extension the public accounts, but what is the plan for using those revenues? Is it going to be a dedicated purpose...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to remind the honourable Members of this House that, although we occupy these seats for now, we are holding them in trust for future generations.

Young people in the Northwest Territories and Canada live in very different circumstances than I did or my parents did or my grandparents, and those changing circumstances give a different perspective. It is a perspective that decision makers are often disconnected with, which is why we must work very diligently to connect with young Canadians and young Northerners and to understand their perspectives on the issues...

I am disappointed, but I will look forward to further discussing this both on the floor of this Chamber and in committee. Nothing further. Thank you, Mr. Chair.