Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in follow-up to my Member's statement, I have a few questions for the Minister of Justice. Would the Minister of Justice please advise this House what process was used to determine which communities the GNWT visited on consulting on the proposed cannabis legislation? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Justice.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Legalization of cannabis was, of course, announced by the federal government approximately one year ago, so we had a very limited time to meet the target date of July 2018. Staff visited nine communities; Fort Simpson, Fort Liard, Inuvik, Tsiigehtchic, Norman Wells, Yellowknife, Fort Smith, Hay River, and Behchoko. We simply didn't have the opportunity or time to visit all 33 communities.
In addition to that, there was an online survey that was open to all residents. As I mentioned, public hearings were held in seven regional centres, including Inuvik, and two smaller communities, including Tsiigehtchic, which has a liquor prohibition regime in place, and Fort Liard. The meetings were well publicized. In addition to the meetings, of course, there was the online survey so that the opinions of residents could be obtained. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The Minister already answered my next question, so I'll go to my third: does the GNWT have any guidelines to assist the departments to undertake consultations?
Yes, of course, this government is committed to establish open government policy. In these circumstances, again, with the limited timelines that we had, we decided to visit a cross-section of the communities. With respect to Fort McPherson specifically I know that letters were sent to Indigenous and committee governments, including the Hamlet of Fort McPherson, the Tetl'it Gwich'in council band, and the NWT Association of Communities. In addition to that, there was a teleconference in which the people of Fort McPherson participated. Also, there was the NWTAC meeting a couple of weeks ago where officials and Cabinet Ministers attended. We are working currently to establish and develop public engagement guidelines so that we will have a policy in dealing with matters such as this.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
