Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There is a lot of changes I would like to make to the Liquor Act, too numerous to list in one Member's statement, but the short form would be "see Europe", Mr. Speaker. I dream of allowing minors in pubs and, you know, perhaps being able to share some wine in the park. However, I don't think that those ideas have majority support in this House so my next compromise, Mr. Speaker, would be "see BC" where you have private liquor stores. God, how I dream, Mr. Speaker, of ending the monopoly on liquor and getting rid of the liquor commission.
Additionally, perhaps the Brew Pub could be able to sell some beer at farmer's market or maybe even you could serve some alcohol at a farmer's market. However, Mr. Speaker, I still don't believe that those ideas would have support in this House. So I believe there is a solution and the solution is in communitybased decisions. A number of jurisdictions have devolved more and more powers to municipalities. And in fact, in Vancouver, a number of beaches have designated public drinking areas. That was a bylaw passed by the City of Vancouver. Perhaps we could let the City of Yellowknife serve beer and I could have a beer at the main stage at Folk on the Rocks.
A bit of a tangent here, Mr. Speaker, it's actually proven that beer gardens cause people to drink more. And many festivals, when allowed to get rid of their beer gardens, then implemented them again because they before losing sales. When you put everyone in a designated corral and say that's the only place to drink, binge drinking occurs, Mr. Speaker.
However, Mr. Speaker, I think there is a lot of changes and a lot of conversations to happen. Perhaps the liquor store could be open on Sunday. Perhaps it could be open on election day. Perhaps corner stores could sell alcohol, or grocery stores, Mr. Speaker, but I think the way to do this is to allow our communities to make those decision.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Members' statements. Member for Deh Cho.
