(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a long question, so when my time is up, just let me know.
My question is to the Minister of Justice. I am concerned about the problems experienced in the eastern Arctic with respect to solvent abuse. Recently, the Hamlet Council in Cape Dorset discussed the fact that alcohol, and solvents, are both problems.
Although the Liquor Act gives us some weight to control the amount of liquor shipped to the community, we have no way to effectively control the availability of solvents.
In the past, the idea has been raised that the Government of the Northwest Territories should develop legislation to control the use of solvents, and better counselling services should be developed for solvent abusers.
This idea has been put forward in the past by Pauktuutit and by several alcohol and drug projects. Can the Minister of Justice indicate whether his department would be able to introduce legislation that creates stiffer penalties for abusers and for people who supply solvents to abusers?
One of the main problems we encounter is that solvent abusers and their families resist going for counselling. Is the Minister willing to consider introducing legislation that would allow a judge or a justice of the peace to make an order forcing the solvent abusers to receive counselling by experts?
This has been a concern for a long time, so I wanted to bring this up. Often solvent abusers cannot change their ...