Kieron Testart

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Committee would like to consider Committee Report 15-18(3), Report on the Review of Bill 30, an Act to Amend the Human Rights Act, and Bill 30, An Act to Amend the Human Rights Act. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I assume, once we have these private retail stores, we'll get a better sense of the consumer base out there. Many people have commented to me on the somewhat absurd situation where we will have private cannabis stores before we have private liquor retail stores. Is the department willing to consider the example they're setting by privatizing cannabis retail to extend that to alcohol? Thank you.

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

That explanation is greatly appreciated and, again, sometimes investors are looking at these changes and don't quite understand them, so I appreciate the Minister coming forward with that information. To my knowledge, there are around 20 applications in. How many retail opportunities is the GNWT considering through their assessment so far? Are we looking at multiple stores in Yellowknife? Are we looking at single stores in Inuvik, where they do not have a cannabis retail outlet? Can the Minister provide any new content to that point?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. This amendment amends the preamble to the act to address genetic characteristics as a prohibited grounds. It is not a substantive clause, as it is a perambulatory clause. However, any subsequent amendments to address this issue are going to require it. I will speak to just the general principles of why banning genetic discrimination is a fundamental concern that has been raised over the course of standing committee's review of the bill and has been discussed and debated closely by Members.

As the Minister noted in his opening comments, the Human Rights Commission undertook...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to introduce two Pages from the Kam Lake riding, Ms. Katrina Butt and Ms. Belinda Formaniuk. It is great to have them in the Chamber helping us out, and all of the Pages. The youth are our future, and it is great to see them taking an interest on our procedures. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Nothing further at this point. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. There was a point in time where this letter, in fact, was tabled in this Assembly after committee research materials were tabled. Can the Minister commit to tabling whatever correspondence he has received from the Coalition for Genetic Fairness? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Did the government, at any time, reach out to advocacy groups for those suffering from genetic disabilities to solicit their thoughts on this issue as it relates to Bill 30? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. This is a peculiar motion in our proceedings as it makes a recommendation, not to government, but to a statutory body, the Human Rights Commission. Committee felt that this was an appropriate way to address a concern that we heard around ensuring that this process was meeting its targets.

Although we are fully confident that the Human Rights Commission is going to be reporting on this in its annual statutory reports, this just gives a very clear indication of what we heard and what we feel would be effective for the commission in evaluating the efficacy of the restorative...