Kieron Testart

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'd like to call for a recorded vote.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, and thank you very much, honourable colleagues, for your comments, your thoughts.

Mr. Speaker, right off the bat, I am disappointed to hear from the honourable Minister of Infrastructure that this is not something that the government is in a position to support. I just want to be clear that to people who may be concerned about the potential cost of an audit like this: the resources of the Office of the Auditor General are independent of this government and this government's budgets, and indeed, the prerogative to even accept this motion, should it pass, would...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm pleased to support the motion moved by my honourable friend, the Member from Yellowknife Centre. One of the curious things about the government's plan to colocate the sale of alcohol and cannabis came to me in a particularly clear way when the Cannabis Talk Kit was mailed out to every household in the Northwest Territories, which is a commendable effort, and I think it's a good idea to get that information out there.

In that talk kit, there's a onepage sheet on top of it, and there's a small box on that sheet that says, "Don't drink alcohol and smoke cannabis at the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Nahendeh, the following motion:

WHEREAS the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk Highway (ITH) project is the largest infrastructure project completed to date by the Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT), with a cost of more than $300 million;

AND WHEREAS the ITH project was undertaken by the GNWT as a negotiated contract;

AND WHEREAS construction of the highway was initiated by the previous 17th Legislative Assembly;

AND WHEREAS cost and contract considerations during construction resulted in changes to the project's methodology;

AN...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. This motion represents the work of the committee, and it is one of the motions that committee agreed to bring forward, that was passed at the clausebyclause review, and that the honourable Minister of Justice did not concur with. I am bringing it forward again to reflect the work of committee and to reflect the common policy objectives that the committee agreed were important and that Bill 6 must contain.

This amendment to the bill will allow for the immediate designation of vendors outside of the Liquor Commission system. Granted, regulations will need to be developed to...

You know, I appreciate the Minister is relatively new to this portfolio, and it's good to hear that she believes it's unacceptable. So what is she going to do? What kind of tangible, quantifiable changes can the Minister point to that have taken place, specifically in the way we approach student achievement, that the department has undertaken to date?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate your intervention. Further, as to what I was saying, the three areas that we identify here as a committee; public education, public awareness, and public health research related to cannabis use, were felt to be the most appropriate uses for any potential cannabisrelated revenues, and these are areas that largely are underdeveloped.

Obviously, we have only begun public education; public awareness is also in its early stages; and public health research is very limited. It's hard to study an illicit substance, and the limited information we have is not a complete...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize a Page from my riding of Kam Lake, Rhuwina Javier. Thank you very much for your hard work this sitting. Thank you.

Mr. Chair, I move that this Assembly recommend that the Government of the Northwest Territories consider specific spending targets for the disbursement of cannabisrelated revenues aimed at public education, public awareness, and public health research related to cannabis use;

And further, that the Liquor Commission report on cannabis sales in its annual report. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. One of the issues that was raised quite frequently in the communities was the issue of young people getting charged with cannabis possession charges, and having it serve as a barrier for future employment, for travel, and that the prohibition system has largely set many of our young people out to fail. With the changes made to the record suspension system by the previous federal government, record suspensions are much more time consuming and expensive. It is difficult for everyday citizens who are suffering from relatively minor offences such as cannabis possession to...