Thank you, Madam Speaker. Today I would like to provide the House with a progress report on a significant initiative that is under way in the Department of Safety and Public Services. Honourable Members will be aware that over the past several months, this government has undertaken a comprehensive review of the liquor control legislation and practices in the Northwest Territories. Our goal has been to examine all aspects of the way liquor is regulated, eventually leading to the development of a new Liquor Act.
This review is timely. Specific sections of our current legislation have been amended many times, but the fundamental model for our liquor control system has not been examined in a comprehensive fashion since 1969. Our approach to liquor regulation has not kept pace with many changes that residents of the Northwest Territories have observed over the past 25 years.
Today, our northern communities are besieged with problems arising from the unlawful sale of alcohol, and we repeatedly hear concerns about liquor consumption by young people. Problems have emerged over and over with the enforcement of provisions aimed to establish standards for the licensing and operation of liquor establishments. Regional organizations and local governments are seeking a broader avenue for community-based leadership in addressing regulatory issues that affect people on a daily basis.
Unquestionably, Madam Speaker, it is now time to take a fresh look at the way the sale, distribution, possession and consumption of liquor are regulated in the Northwest Territories. For this purpose, the liquor law review was initiated nine months ago. Our objective has been to work toward the development of a new liquor control framework that is effective, balanced and fully representative of community priorities.
From the outset of the project, it was realized that the solutions to liquor control problems would be found not in departmental offices and boardrooms, but through an open, active discussion with communities.
In June 1994, I announced a major public consultation strategy aimed at identifying northerners' concerns and asking for their suggestions about how our liquor control system can be made better.
Several strategies were employed for advising Northwest Territories residents about the review and for seeking their comments. Correspondence and updates have been distributed throughout the project to licence holders, local governments, aboriginal organizations, social agencies, women's and youth advocacy groups and professional associations. Many of these have responded with written briefs or resolutions that recommended improvements to our liquor legislation.
As well, an information flyer outlining key issues and encouraging public participation was sent to Northwest Territories households in June. An enclosed questionnaire was provided in all official languages so that readers could return their comments or suggestions. To date, over 400 responses have been received coming from communities in all regions of the Northwest Territories.
Project personnel have also travelled to several communities to hear residents' views first-hand, but the planning for community consultations has not been driven from Yellowknife. In each case, local authorities, chambers of commerce or social agencies were informed about the initiative and encouraged to tell our departmental staff how they could fit into the consultation format that best suited community needs.
Accordingly, discussion strategies have varied from one community to another. In Hay River, Pangnirtung and Fort Liard, for instance, the project coordinator met with interagency committees and spoke individually with community leaders. In Broughton Island and Igloolik, on the other hand, formal meetings with the hamlet councillors and members of the alcohol education committees were augmented with phone-in shows on the local radio. In Tuktoyaktuk, Yellowknife and Iqaluit, Fort Smith and other locations, public meetings were arranged by the community leadership or local agencies. In other communities like Fort McPherson, Chesterfield Inlet and Cambridge Bay, emphasis was placed on meeting individually with elders and other residents in their homes or offices.
Project staff were privileged to attend discussions on the liquor law review at last summer's Denendeh national assembly in Lutsel K'e, and at the Deh Cho youth spiritual gathering in Wrigley. Meetings were also held with boards of directors for the Northwest Territories Association of Municipalities and for the Northwest Territories Chamber of Commerce. Input has been received from the Northwest Territories Status of Women Council, the Dene Cultural Institute and the Native Women's Association. Discussions have been held with representatives of other aboriginal organizations all across the Northwest Territories.
The response has been encouraging. Participants have been taking advantage of the opportunity to share their views on our current approach to liquor control, and to suggest better ways for carrying out government regulatory responsibilities.
Madam Speaker, the suggestions received during our current consultations will be summarized in a legislative action paper that I intend to table in November during the current sitting of this House. This document will outline principles that will be used to form the basis of a new Liquor Act.
Honourable Members will have an opportunity to review the legislative action paper in detail, perhaps by referring it to the standing committee for consideration, and to provide the government with recommendations on which principles should be incorporated in legislation. With the feedback received following this Assembly's review of the legislative action paper, Safety and Public Services will then work closely with the Department of Justice to draft new legislation.
I anticipate that a bill containing the new Liquor Act will be available for introduction to the 13th Legislative Assembly as soon as possible, following the fall 1995 territorial election. Madam Speaker, this entire process has been designed to maximize public participation in the development of our new liquor laws. Members of the public have an opportunity to share their ideas now during the preparation of the legislative action paper. They will be able to comment when the Legislative Assembly and its committees are reviewing principles outlined in the paper. And, they will have an opportunity to say what they think when the bill establishing a new Liquor Act is brought forward after the election.
It should be emphasized, Madam Speaker, that consultations initiated over the course of the past summer will continue during the later stages of this process. The legislative action paper, when it is tabled next month, will not dictate solutions but rather summarize the innovative suggestions that northerners have shared with the liquor law review. Madam Speaker, these suggestions have ranged from raising the drinking age to developing new systems and standards for issuing liquor licenses.
People have called for tougher penalties to halt the bootlegging problems that plague our communities. Frequently, too, we have heard that the new liquor legislation should expand local options to empower communities to establish their own systems of liquor control. These ideas, and many others, are now being carefully studied and prepared for inclusion in the legislative action paper. I am looking forward, Madam Speaker, to the opportunity for further discussion and input from all honourable Members when the document is tabled later in this session. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
---Applause