Kieron Testart

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I asked earlier about tax policies or tax changes. My question is more of a policy one, but it is related to this activity, and currently my understanding is that, if we were to change tax rates in the Northwest Territories, that needs to be done by legislative amendment to the Income Tax Act. Is that correct?

So it does not sound like there is a plan. When they were considering doing this, was the Minister aware of how these fees operate across Canada, or is this investigative report new to the Minister's knowledge, too?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate that, but I would hope that we would adopt something similar to this because we have a great deal of expertise. So can the Minister commit to taking this on under the portfolio of Finance so we have some clarity on who is actually developing the regulations for cannabis in the Northwest Territories? It is coming sooner than we would like to think, for this government it seems, and we should be realizing this opportunity and being prepared for the change and not struggling to pass the buck. So if the Minister could commit to taking this on as a Finance...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it is no secret that the North faces significant challenges when it comes to the health and wellness of our residents. During the last election, and since then, I have heard many calls for a brick and mortar treatment centre or some kind of facility that can offer made-in-the-North, culturally appropriate care for Northerners.

I think, with the very recent and tragic events involving the death of an Indigenous man in one of our communities who was mistakenly thought to be drunk when in fact he was suffering from a stroke, it is further evidence that we need...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. That's satisfactory, but I will say this: this is a great idea, we've seen it be very successfully deployed on a national level, so I would encourage the Minister to both quantify how many more families this is going to benefit; the average costs that families will be able to gain monthly from this benefit or annually or whatever it shakes down to; and communicate that broadly with the public so they know exactly how much their government is giving back to them in the form of this NWT child benefit, and especially if you're doubling the amount of families who receive it...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move this committee to defer further consideration of the directorate activity in the Department of Finance, Main Estimates 2017-2018 on page 132 at this time. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

How many families are currently receiving the benefit under the current structure of the benefit? Thank you

Thank you, Mr. Chair. If there was a change in our tax rates, is it the director who would be responsible for implementing that change? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I neglected to ask about the NWT Child Benefit, so in the department total I'll just ask some questions about this.

So this is a new change that's coming forward again with the passage of a piece of legislation that is currently with committee at second reading in this House, and it will increase the benefits payable through the fund or, sorry, through the credit. How many families are going to benefit from the enhanced NWT child benefit? Thank you.

No, thank you, Mr. Chair.