Debates of August 21, 2007 (day 14)

Agreed. Then we will take a long overdue break.

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I didn’t even notice the bills. We left off yesterday on the Liquor Act and we had had the opening comments from the Minister. We’re ready to move on to general comments, but I’ll ask Minister Roland first if he would like to bring witnesses into the Chamber today.

Yes, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Minister Roland. Is committee agreed?

Agreed.

Agreed. Thank you. I’ll ask the Sergeant-at-Arms, please, if he would escort the witnesses to the table.

I’ll ask the Members to consider their general comments. Minister Roland, for the record, could you please introduce your witnesses today. Minister Roland.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, joining me at the table here is the deputy minister for the Department of Finance, Ms. Margaret Melhorn, and to my left is Mr. Joseph LaFerla, director, policy and planning for Finance. Further to my right is Mr. Mark Aitken, director of legislation, Department of Justice. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Minister Roland. General comments, Bill 15, Liquor Act. First I have Mr. Braden.

Madam Chair, thank you. My remarks will be brief. First of all to acknowledge the willingness of the Minister, Mr. Roland, to accept the pleas from a number of us on this side, myself included, to engage in the review and in the modernization of this bill. I believe we are the third Assembly in more than a decade to have attempted to do this and we can actually check this one off as something that was long overdue. So I want to acknowledge, again, the Minister’s willingness to engage, and, of course, the work that he and his staff and contractors have done to get us to this day.

Madam Chair, I believe that the greatest achievement, if you will, in this bill is not so much in the technical areas or the modernization or even the areas in which we’re focusing on offences and penalties and where we want to make changes in how those are regarded. You know, we’re bringing in minimum fines, we’re bringing in more attention to illegal supply and distribution of liquor. I think the greatest thing here, Madam Chair, is that we have come off almost, I think, sort of a philosophy of government that a set of centralized rules and standards will work for all situations in all communities in all regions in the NWT. We have dispensed with that. We are enabling communities through an improved plebiscite mechanism to take more control of the way liquor will and can be distributed and managed in their own communities. I think that is a real leap forward, Madam Chair, in the way government is allowed to be managed and directed by the people who are closest to its results. So I think that’s a considerable achievement. In that, Madam Chair, I hope that communities will undertake to engage in debates, engage in discussion in community action about how they can change the way liquor is administered in their communities. I don’t think this is going to be easy, Madam Chair. We have so many, sort of, I think, conventions and systems, if you will, tolerances that have been built up in communities about the way that we put up with bootlegging, with various kinds of behaviour. This is a way the communities can take at least some control for themselves in the way this can be changed. As I say, I don’t anticipate this is going to be easy, but it’s going to be very necessary, Madam Chair, if the people of the NWT are going to do a more effective job of curbing the abuse and the cost that alcohol brings in this society. Those are my comments, Madam Chair. It’s a very good piece of work. I’m proud to have been part of it. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. I didn’t hear any question there. Those were truly general comments. Great. Thank you. Next on the list I have Mr. Robert McLeod.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I want to lend my support to this bill as I think it’s a very well written piece of work. I spoke with a resident of Inuvik who follows this type of stuff very closely and they mentioned that this was very well written and the fact that it was written in the NWT by the NWT and for the NWT is something that I’m quite proud of. It’s not something that we’ve borrowed from somewhere. We put the bill in committee’s hands and took the bill out, people spoke to us for the most part, well, I think everyone spoke in favour of the new Liquor Act. There were a couple concerns about stiffer penalties and I think you tried to address those and that’s much appreciated because it shows these people that we’re not just going out there and going through the motions. We are listening to what they have to say and if they do make reasonable requests, they’re usually acted on. People appreciate that and people remember that. So I want to just commend the department on this piece of work.

One I liked in the opening comments is the recognition that the attitude toward alcohol cannot be legislated and it’s everyone’s responsibility and something that I’ve always believed. I think we’re getting there. It’s been a long, slow process but I think we’re getting to the point where a lot of people are taking responsibility for their attitude toward alcohol and it’s starting to show. So with that, Madam Chair, I just wanted to lend my support to this bill. I think it’s well written and I was glad to be a part of the northern group that took this out and listened to what people had to say. We heard them and they appreciate that and we appreciate that. I look forward to seeing this come into play. Helping the communities make decisions regarding alcohol, I think, is a huge step. Communities are always saying we want the power to do this, we want the authority to do that; now we’ve given them that authority and I think they will use that wisely. So, Madam Chair, those are my general comments. No questions, just my support to the bill and the work that went into it. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Any further general comments? Okay. Detail it is; 144 clauses of detail. Okay. Clause 1.

Agreed.

Licences and permits, clause 2.

Agreed.

Clause 3.

Agreed.

Clause 4.

Agreed.

Clause 5.

Agreed.

Clause 6.

Agreed.

Clause 7.

Agreed.

Clause 8.

Agreed.

Clause 9.

Agreed.

Clause 10.

Agreed.

Clause 11.

Agreed.

Clause 12.

Agreed.

Clause 13.

Agreed.

Clause 14.

Agreed.

Clause 15.

Agreed.

Clause 16.

Agreed.

Clause 17.

Agreed.

Clause 18.

Agreed.

Clause 19.

Agreed.

Clause 20.