Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today my questions are for the Minister of Finance, of course about the topic of the day. Mr. Speaker, the government has decided to keep control of cannabis sales in-house for now, and only in communities with liquor stores for the next six months, it seems like. Of course, online orders will be shipped by regular mail, and we all know how long mail can take at times, and so I would like to ask the Minister: does the Minister have any concerns that this management regime will boost cannabis bootlegging in the small communities, in particular resulting in less effective control of the product and increasing demand on law enforcement? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, cannabis is not new in the NWT. Legalized cannabis, though, is a controlled substance that is currently being distributed through liquor stores, as the Member pointed out, and federal requirements mean that it will be tracked from the seed-to-sale manner, and that has to be considered in our approach. I do not believe that legalization will add to illegal activities. We can use the liquor as a model. Even though liquor sales are legal, there is an illegal market that continues to exist. I think early indications are, and I can share some numbers, as of noon today we had 122 registered customers, we have had 37 orders placed, so we have had well over $5,000 worth of product that has been sold already. That is an early indicator, a 12-hour indicator, that we have put a dent into the illegal market. It is a controlled substance, so people who buy from a legal vendor will know that they have a federally controlled substance, and they can have the assurance that it is a safe product. I wish we could eliminate bootlegging completely, not only with cannabis but with liquor, but unfortunately, realistically, that is always going to exist.
Thank you to the Minister for his reply. Certainly, we appreciate getting the early indicators. It's at this point that I would almost feel like I would like to inject a Jeff Spicoli quote, but, in fact, I do not have one off the top of my head, so I will leave it at that. Bad joke number three. However, Mr. Speaker, if I can, now that pot is legal, the government has committed to opening private retailing in six months. We are seeing the excitement today in the media as retailers open across the country. Is the government committed to fully supporting retail cannabis as part of the growing and diversifying economy in the Northwest Territories?
Our commitment was to have regulation and processes in place to assess anybody considering opening a cannabis store. We have released our regulations and information guide for anyone who might be considering opening a cannabis store well before the sixth month, and we will work with anyone considering opening a cannabis store. Opening a store within the retail framework has been released.
Thank you to the Minister for his reply. That leads me to my next question, and that is: is the government currently accepting and processing applications so retailers can be ready next April, when the six months is up, or is April when we will start processing applications?
We have not been contacted by any potential retailers at this point. Should interested parties come forward, we will assess those as described in the information guide that was released. So we would work with those who are considering becoming a vendor because we have released the guide, so the answer, I guess, is yes, we would look at starting to process applications.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
All right. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Minister for informing us of that. We can now look forward to the applications rolling in, hopefully. "Rolling" in, bad joke number four. Okay, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the government's retail cannabis framework document lays out a pretty detailed guide for retailers, and I want to commend the government for their effort on putting that together.
What steps is the department taking to prepare for its own inspection and enforcement when it comes to their role when private retailing is permitted? How is the government preparing as it relates to inspection and enforcement? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
That was almost number five, there. The agreement that a vendor enters into with the NWT Liquor and Cannabis Commission has online requirements and inspection activities. They would enter into an agreement that would allow for the inspections, and the online guide outlines the requirements that would be needed. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Hay River North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This cannabis issue is multi-facetted, so I have some questions for the Minister of Justice. He is not going to get off the hook today. There has been a lot of talk of the roadside testing for cannabis for impaired driving, so I would like an update from the Minister. I believe the NWT has procured these roadside drug-testing kits. Have they been distributed across the territory, and are they available to all officers? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Justice.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know that the roadside drug screening device was approved at the end of August, but I am not certain whether it has actually been deployed across the Northwest Territories as of yet. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Hopefully the Minister can provide that information sooner than later. This has been discussed in this House before. Officers are being trained to use the equipment, as well as, I believe, to detect impairment without the equipment. I know that there was a training program that officers were going through, and they had a timeline. How many officers in the territory have been trained to date in cannabis impairment testing?
There are different types of programs that are taking place. There is the Standardized Field Sobriety Testing and the Drug Recognition Expert Training. I can advise that 31 police officers are trained in the SFST, and four members have been trained in the DRE.
I figured it would have been more than four members by now, but I know that there are a lot of challenges facing the RCMP in the territory, and you can't just send them all off for training. Hopefully we can get an updated timeline from the Minister about when all that training will be completed.
One concern that we saw in the media was that these roadside testing kits might fail in cold weather, and I want to know from the Minister: what has the department put in place to monitor the occurrence of false positives so that we are not wrongly charging our residents?
Yes. I understand that there have been some concerns about the reliability of these tests in cold weather. I am assured that the tests are quite reliable, and if they aren't, they will be tested in the courts.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Hay River North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just want some clarification on that last answer. The Minister is aware that there have been concerns about the reliability, but he is not concerned about the reliability, so there is nothing in place to test the reliability. Is that correct? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Yes, I do understand that there are concerns about the reliability of the results of the tests. However, if there are concerns about the reliability, I am sure the defence counsel will attempt to make applications in court so that the reliability of those tests can be reviewed. I do understand, however, that the machines are quite reliable and have been tested in various locations and climates in Canada. Thank you.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, a number of constituents have approached me with concerns around international travel now that cannabis is legalized, particularly into the United States. I am wondering if the Premier, in his role as Minister of Executive and Indigenous Affairs, which includes intergovernmental relations, has had any conversations with the federal government as to how this is going to work? Thank you.
Masi. The Honourable Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I haven't had any specific conversations about international travel, but I do know that international borders are a federal responsibility and that the legalization of cannabis in Canada did not change Canada's border rules. Taking cannabis or any product containing cannabis across Canada's international borders is illegal and can result in serious criminal penalties both at home and abroad. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Earlier today the Minister of Border Security and Organized Crime Reduction at the federal level gave a press conference and said that Canadians should be vigilant but otherwise should have no issues crossing the border. As relatively new information, and I don't think it is well-understood at this point, can the Premier reach out to his federal counterparts and get more information on the subject and clarify it so that Northern residents know it is safe to travel, where they can travel, and what they are allowed to do?
Certainly, but we do know that it is illegal to travel with marijuana if you are going abroad. I believe the issue with the United States was that, if you worked in a facility involving marijuana and you went to the United States, it would be illegal. They later clarified that, as long as you were going on a holiday, it would be okay.
It is important for us to get more clarification from the United States rather than just getting it through the TV or through the media.
I am glad the Premier shares my interest in this matter and agrees that it is important. When he does get this information from the United States or through the federal government, will he bring that report back to the House or at least make it available on government websites or through some sort of public statement? Can he commit to that?
I can commit to that, but in the meantime, Northwest Territories residents travelling abroad should consult with the Government of Canada's website around cannabis and international travel. Most countries, including the United States, have a zero-tolerance policy with respect to illegal drugs, including possession and use.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nunakput.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it has been two weeks since MTS cancelled the barge delivery to Paulatuk and the two communities outside the territory, and no tenders have been awarded yet, Mr. Speaker, which is increasing the cost of living for constituents in my region.
Mr. Speaker, I have follow-up questions for the Minister of Infrastructure on the MTS operations for the upcoming airlift to Paulatuk and Ulukhaktok, which do not include the gasoline delivery to Sachs Harbour. The Minister noted that he would not consider Tuktoyaktuk as a port for the North, given its ideal position as traffic increases in the Northwest Passage. My first question to the Minister is: the cost of the airlift has to come from somewhere, given there may be as many as 100 or more flights worth millions of dollars. My question is: will this additional cost fall on taxpayers in the Northwest Territories? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Infrastructure.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First of all, I want to update the House a little bit on what I know what is going on today. The tenders have been awarded, and I believe the first flight is going into Paulatuk probably today, hauling fuel, so that process is under way.
As far as Sachs Harbour, the Member e-mailed me asking me about Sachs Harbour for fuel. I have looked into that matter, and Sachs Harbour has significant gasoline in their community, so that isn't an issue.
As far as where we are going to recover the cost of funding this operation, the fuel is going to come out of the POL revolving account, and for the transportation of commodities and goods going into the community, it is going to come out of the MTS revolving fund. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I appreciate the response, and it's good to see. I looked on the website this morning. There were no tenders awarded, and hopefully that process can start soon.
Mr. Speaker, the Minister stated that this error for not delivering fuel was due to ice. However, will the Minister commit to ensure that petroleum products are inspected and meet the requirements before allowing onto any MTS barges so that this doesn't happen again or commit to other shipping methods?
The fuel situation is part of the delay, and tomorrow I'm doing a Minister's statement on the whole issue around this marine, MTS, and the supply and stuff. We will be updating the House there. I am actually going to reach out to committee and ask them if they want a briefing on this whole issue.
The fuel that caused some of the delays this year was not even fuel for us. It was for a customer. It was shipped to Hay River via the railroad, and it did not meet spec when it reached there. Then we are not talking like 5, 10 gallons of fuel here. We are talking about hundreds of millions of litres, and that caused a significant delay. That is something that was part of the proponents problem. It wasn't even our fuel. It wasn't for our communities. It was a customer's problem, but we will work closely with the oil company.
It's good to have good answers, and I believe that the Minister is doing his work for that. However, MTS is a carrier of products, whether they are petroleum products or dry goods around the territory, and I see this as a logistical issue.
Mr. Speaker, I think what we really need to do, or the department needs to do, is pinpoint where this error started and work from there. My question to the Minister is: will the Minister be accountable for this, or will he ensure that the people who did not do their due diligence of their work are accountable for this and that we ensure that errors like this do not happen again, as shipping is a small window of opportunity in the territory?
First of all, I answered the question last week, where the Member ended it saying that was an error, and I said that this isn't an error. This is a combination of a whole bunch of factors. When I do my Minister's statement tomorrow, I will clearly lay it out.
There are certainly lessons learned from this thing. I am not saying that the department is not going to learn something from this. Of course, we are going to learn something from this. I think with the announcement that we just did in Hay River around the double-hull barges, it is going to help alleviate some of the situation. I referred last week, maybe we do have to change our scheduling, but that's something that we have to look at. We are going to have to work closely with all our partners, with the communities, with the Canadian coastguard, and maybe we do look at something in Tuktoyaktuk.
At this point right now, to clearly blame some individual or some people within my department that this was an error on our part is clearly not true. This was a combination of a number of things and that's why I have offered committee a briefing to go through this all, so everyone can know clearly where we stand and what the situation was.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nunakput.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the response. Mr. Speaker, you know, it sounds like somebody was asleep at the wheel somewhere along the way. In this case, it's the wheel house in this area for MTS for them to wake up into freezing ice and not be able to move anywhere.
I appreciate the work that the Minister is doing, and I appreciate his work all around. However, somebody needs to be accountable somewhere and we cannot deflect this any further. My question to the Minister is: with this air-lift affect the future rates to be paid by MTS customers? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
No, this air-lift will not affect future rates. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have a few questions for the Minister responsible for MACA as follow-up to my Member's statement. Although MACA did not play a lead role in creating our cannabis legislation, the department's role in working with communities is going to be critical if we want the NWT to respond successfully to legislation. I would like to ask the Minister: what is the department doing to support community governments as they navigate this changing legal landscape? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we are part of the interdepartmental committee overseeing the implementation of cannabis legislation here in the Northwest Territories. One thing that we are doing, though, is looking at having a conference and bringing in people from each of the communities to attend the conference and looking at addressing any community governance concerns, hamlets, communities, bands. I will be looking at striving to support the community governments and their understanding of this legislation or any concerns that they might have.
Now, we are looking at having this conference sooner than later because the legislation just came through. We were looking at having it in November. However, with the tourism and a lot of conferences going on, it was hard to get that conference up and running, so we are looking at January to have that conference. So all hamlets, all community governments can get ready to look at coming in.
Some of the things that we are going to be looking at are business licences, looking at plan review, fire safety is going to be a big one now that it has become legalized; community planning, zoning bylaws are some other things that we need to look at. So all of those are going to be encapsulated in the conference that we are going to hold.
I appreciate the Member's question, and it is something that we are looking at. As I mentioned, we are part of this interdepartmental committee and we are going to try to address it and make sure that we have a good transparency approach to working with our community governments.
We have some time here, as we are not doing the O and M right now, but in my Member's statement I talked about the need for more resources for enforcement in our small communities. Can the Minister commit to reviewing the funding his department provides to small communities for enforcement purposes and to increase it where needed to tackle cannabis legislation?
