Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
WHEREAS the federal Cannabis Act to legalize and regulate cannabis in Canada received royal assent on June 21, 2018, and cannabis for non-medicinal purposes became available for legal retail sale in Canada on October 17, 2018;
AND WHEREAS the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories has enacted the Cannabis Legalization and Regulation of Implementation Act, which includes as Schedule A in the Cannabis Products Act that provides authority to establish measures to control sale and distribution of cannabis for non-medicinal purposes;
AND WHEREAS the federal government is implementing and coordinating cannabis taxation framework that was agreed upon in principle by federal, provincial, and territorial Finance Ministers in December 2017 and that was formulized by the Government of the Northwest Territories with the signing of the coordinated Cannabis Taxation Agreement with Canada;
AND WHEREAS, as a condition of a coordinated cannabis taxation agreement, the Government of the Northwest Territories must confirm its support for the Government of Canada to levy an excised tax on cannabis on behalf of the Government of the Northwest Territories to receive 75 percent of the federal Cannabis Excise Tax duties levied on cannabis sales in the Northwest Territories;
NOW THEREFORE I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Great Slave, that the Government of the Northwest Territories should agree to receive revenues from an excise duty in respect of the Northwest Territories as imposed as part of the federally legislated Cannabis Excise Tax. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would request a recorded vote.
Masi. The Member is requesting a recorded vote. The motion is in order. To the motion.
The Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, the Member for Hay River South, the Member for Thebacha, the Member for Hay River North, the Member for Mackenzie Delta, the Member for Sahtu, the Member for Yellowknife North, the Member for Kam Lake, the Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh, the Member for Nahendeh, the Member for Frame Lake, the Member for Yellowknife Centre, the Member for Deh Cho, the Member for Nunakput, the Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, the Member for Range Lake, the Member for Great Slave, the Member for Yellowknife South.
Masi. All those opposed, please stand. All those abstaining, please stand. The results of the recorded vote: 18 in favour, zero opposed, zero abstentions. Motion carried.
---Carried
Colleagues, at this time, I would request a short break.
---SHORT RECESS
Colleagues, we left off from the first motion. We are onto the second motion. Motions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
WHEREAS pursuant to section 61(1) of the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act, the Legislative Assembly recommends to the Commissioner the appointment of Members to the Executive Council Act. The Legislative Assembly recommends to the Commissioner the appointment of Members of the Executive Council;
AND WHEREAS pursuant to section 61(2) of the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act, the persons appointment to hold office during the pleasure of the Legislative Assembly;
AND WHEREAS the Assembly pursuant to these powers have chosen the honourable Member for Hay River South to sit as a Member of the Executive Council;
NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Deh Cho, that this Assembly formally revoke the pleasure of the Assembly from the appointment of the honourable Member for Hay River South as a Member of the Executive Council;
AND FURTHER, that this Assembly recommend that a Member be chosen to be a Member of the Executive Council.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I would like to request a recorded vote.
Masi. The Member requested a recorded vote. The motion is in order. To the motion. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to all of the honourable Members of this House for weighing in with their thoughts on this and on what is by its very nature a divisive issue but a conversation that we must have from time to time.
I wanted to address some of the thoughts and comments that were made here and one that members of the public have also been talking about keep coming back to. It's this notion that now is not the right time for a Minister to be removed from the privilege of serving on the Executive Council because there is only one year left. Well, Mr. Speaker, the mid-term review people said, "We can't do it now. There's only two years left." When do we remove Ministers in a consensus government, after six months? What is the window? Because that is not in our protocols.
When there is a significant issue and a significant crisis of confidence in a Minister's performance, that's when the motion comes forward. Every Minister on that side has just spoken or, sorry, the Premier has spoken about the hard-working nature of his Cabinet. I can certainly stand up and speak to the hard-working nature of my colleagues over here. There are many files and pieces of legislation that we work on, that we tend to know more of the intricate details than the Minister sponsoring the bill or the Minister bringing forth the proposal because that is our job, to scrutinize and to hold to account. Anyone, anyone who is elected by their constituents, by voters, is capable of taking a seat on the other side of the House, so I reject the notion that there is a time-bound requirement and that elections are the only proper time to allow for a Minister's performance to be judged.
It's part of our system of government. It's part of responsible government, which is a founding principle of consensus, and it dismays me that the issue at play here, which is a clear, factual performance issue that the Members have talked to, and, more importantly, how it was handled. Still, I half expected an apology today or at least a recognition of contrition around how this has been handled, and still nothing. We have a guarantee that things are on track. Millions and billions of dollars the federal government has put in their budget are flowing into the Northwest Territories.
These are real issues that still remain unaddressed, and I hope that this motion is a wake-up call as my honourable friend from Hay River North said, that this is a wake-up call, that eventually this will hit the floor, and, even if these motions do not pass, they are taking time away from the rest of the business of the House because they need to be heard. They need to be brought forward so our constituents can have their concerns raised around accountability, and Ministers who continue to refuse to answer questions, to dismiss the concerns that are brought up time and time again as we sit in this House year after year, that this will be the inevitable consequence. Even if that motion does not fail, it must be heard. Accountability is demanded of us in our roles, and I still stand in support of this. Mr. Speaker, again I request a recorded vote so the record will show who else stands in support of this motion. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The Member for Kam Lake, the Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh, the Member for Nahendeh, the Member for Frame Lake, the Member for Deh Cho, the Member for Hay River North.
All those opposed, please stand.
The Member for Yellowknife Centre, the Member for Nunakput, the Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, the Member for Range Lake, the Member for Great Slave, the Member for Yellowknife South, the Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, the Member for Hay River South, the Member for Thebacha, the Member for Mackenzie Delta, the Member for Sahtu, the Member for Yellowknife North.
Masi. All those abstaining, please stand. The results of the recorded vote: 6 in favour, 12 opposed, zero abstentions. The motion is defeated.
---Defeated
Motions. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have to give credit to the Minister. That's leadership. He stood up, took responsibility, and apologized to the children and the families that have been affected. I thank the Minister for that. My problem, though, is we still did not put resources to it. We are going to wait until next year to start this, so that's another six months that Cabinet has to wait because they should be bringing a supp to the floor and saying, "Hey, we need to put some money to this. We need to hire more people, more social workers there."
I know it's great that we are doing it next term or next year. That is great, but it doesn't deal with the issue now. I put it onto Cabinet. The Minister couldn't do a good enough job to get it there, but this is a crisis. We need to find issues and find money. The Cabinet has to wear that if they don't bring a supp and they wait for the business plans to go through 2019-2020. At the end of the day, it's about the youth. I appreciate the Minister for being so passionate and carrying and that.
At this point in time, Mr. Speaker, I'd like to have a recorded vote. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The Member for Nahendeh, the Member for Frame Lake, the Member for Deh Cho, the Member for Hay River North, the Member for Yellowknife North, the Member for Kam Lake, the Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Masi. All those opposed, please stand.
The Member for Yellowknife Centre, the Member for Nunakput, the Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, the Member for Range Lake, the Member for Great Slave, the Member for Yellowknife South, the Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, the Member for Hay River South, the Member for Thebacha, the Member for Mackenzie Delta, the Member for Sahtu.
Masi. All those abstaining, please stand. The results of the recorded votes: seven in favour, 11 against, zero abstention. The motion is defeated.
---Defeated
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Range Lake that Bill 18, An Act to Amend the Cities, Towns and Villages Act be read for the third time. Mr. Speaker, I request a recorded vote. Thank you.
Masi. The Member is requesting a recorded vote. The motion is in order. To the motion.
The Member for Inuvik Boot Leg, the Member for Range Lake, the Member for Great Slave, the Member for Yellowknife South, the Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, the Member for Hay River South, the Member for Thebacha, the Member for Mackenzie Delta, the Member for Sahtu, the Member for Yellowknife North, the Member for Kam Lake, the Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh, the Member for Nahendeh, the Member for Frame Lake, the Member for Yellowknife Centre, the Member for Deh Cho.
Masi. All those opposed, please stand. All those abstaining, please stand.
The Member for Hay River North.
Masi. The results of the recorded vote: 16 in favour, zero opposed, one abstention. The motion is carried.
---Carried
