Thank you. The motion is in order. To the motion.

Question.

Question has been called. Mr. Patterson.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I have great respect for the opinions of the Member for Thebacha, but I also know that the committee, whose report we are debating, considered this issue at some length and is representative of constituencies from all across the territories. I just want to say that I believe this is a difficult question because like many of the issues that face us as legislators, there are advantages and disadvantages to raising the drinking age.

One of the advantages is that it may prevent some young people from starting drinking when they aren't quite ready to handle that responsibility. It may help reduce some of the problems that we see among some young people who have alcohol problems. I am not unaware of the problems that young people have with alcohol, whether they are 19 or not. However, Mr. Chairman, the other side of it is that if the drinking age is raised, then it becomes the forbidden fruit and there may well be a tendency for people to resort to illegal means to obtain liquor, exposing themselves to getting into legal trouble or they may resort to other non-legal abuses like drugs.

Mr. Chairman, I am sure that my constituency has opinions on both sides. I suspect that elders in my constituency may feel that raising the drinking age might diminish the alcohol problem, but there are probably many younger people in my constituency who feel that since they have the right to vote, the right to join the army and defend their country, they should have some of the privileges that are associated with those rights as well.

So, Mr. Chairman, I don't think this is a simple question. I suppose that is why the Member is suggesting it be put to a territorial vote in conjunction with the forthcoming election. The first question I would like to ask, Mr. Chairman, is -- and maybe the legal advisor or the Clerk could assist -- is there a mechanism to put a question like this on the territorial election ballot if we should approve this motion? I know there is a Plebiscite Act that allows us to have a plebiscite on any question, but those have traditionally been stand-alone plebiscites. I think the last one cost almost $750,000. So I guess before we vote, I would like to ask if someone could enlighten the committee; is there a way to do what Mrs. Marie-Jewell suggests be done; that is, add a question to the ballot in the forthcoming territorial election. So in addition to electing your local MLA, you would be giving an opinion on the drinking age. Is there a way of doing that under the present Election Act? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Patterson. The question has legal implications. I wonder if the Law Clerk could be brought to the table. Mr. Clerk, did you want to attempt to answer that question?

He knows the answer.

He knows the answer.

We need the Law Clerk anyway.

Mr. Chairman, if I understand the question, is there a mechanism to put in on the ballot for the territorial election in the fall of this year, the Plebiscite Act is a separate act, so it would mean that there would possibly be two ballots: one for the territorial election and one administered under a territorial plebiscite. There would be a ballot for the plebiscite question. There would be two separate ballots.

There may be some concern, Mr. Chairman, regarding the residency requirement because the residency requirements are different for the Elections Act than they are for the Plebiscite Act. Those are things that would have to be discussed by the Executive Council.

Thank you. To the motion. Mr. Patterson.

Mr. Chairman, the Clerk's answer leads me to believe that it could not be easily done and that, in fact, if we use the Plebiscite Act we'd have to perhaps have two enumerations: one for three-year residents and one for the lesser requirements of the territorial election. I'm not convinced that there's an easy mechanism to do this.

The other point I would like to make is that I'm not sure that it's fair to dump this issue on the Executive Council, they have weighty matters to consider enough. I think this is the kind of issue that should be dealt with in the Assembly. I think we should be prepared to voice our opinions here today. I would like to say, on balance and with no disrespect for the opinion that exists, the drinking age should be increased. On balance, I'm quite confident that the majority of my constituents would not see this as something that would help problems with alcohol in the community.

As the committee has recommended, encouraging people to learn about alcohol, its dangers and encouraging young people to become aware of the risks and the responsibilities associated with drinking, to me, would be more effective. I fear, in fact, that raising the drinking age would just drive the problem underground to a significant extent. I think young people in the north are now aware, as well, that they are part of a country that ... They're widely travelled and they understand that they are part of a great country. We would certainly be, if we moved in this direction, be setting up a category of drinking rights for our young people that is quite different from just across the border, for example, in Alberta, in the Member's own riding. I'm not sure that that kind of variation is going to be helpful nor would it be welcome by young people in the Northwest Territories. I think I know how they'd react if we were to make this move.

Mr. Chairman, on balance, I'm prepared to respect the committee's considered recommendations on this one. It's a difficult question, whatever we do won't please everybody, but I'm inclined to go along with the recommendations of the committee. I know the committee worked hard and heard witnesses from all across the territories. That's the thing, the committee didn't make a recommendation so it's going to stay the way it is. The Member's motion would have this issue put to the people with the recommendation that the voting age increase. I shouldn't call it a committee's recommendation but I'm prepared to go along with the committee's conclusion that raising the drinking age would only create other social problems; that they'll experiment with illegal drugs and non-beverage alcohol and therefore rather than raise the drinking age and rather than put the question of raising the drinking age to the public, we should concentrate our efforts on public education campaigns.

The bottom line is, after some consideration, I am going to vote against the motion. Thank you.

Thank you. I believe the honourable Member for Iqaluit was just making a point. I believe the Member for Thebacha had her hand up earlier. Mrs. Marie-Jewell.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just a few comments on that. I certainly recognize the Member's concern with respect to the Plebiscite Act in comparison to the Legislative Assembly Act in the way the question could be put forth. It's not that the process is difficult, from my understanding.

There could be many things done. I mean, we could simply amend the Plebiscite Act within the next couple of weeks to make it consistent with the Elections Act, and I believe it's a small amendment, so it's not too hard to do.

But, Mr. Chairman, one thing I want to bring forth is that it states in the committee report, "talked about extensively in all regions". Although talked about extensively in all regions, the raising of the legal drinking age was not supported by the witnesses who appeared before the standing committee. I believe that there were quite a few. I read many of the reports on the public hearings, and there were comments alluding to supporting raising the drinking age, and I believe the best and fairest approach to it would be to allow the people to decide. That's why I feel that the cheapest, most cost-effective and economical way would be to look at the form of a plebiscite, a question, along with your ballot for election.

With regard to saying that this responsibility is going to be given a little bit more to the Executive Council, we are recommending that they look at this and see if there's a way that it can be done. I find that this issue comes up time and time again, and I think it's something that the new Assembly, because they are going to be looking at rewriting liquor laws in the next Assembly after spending extensive consultation throughout the Northwest Territories over the past year, are going to look at what they should put in the new liquor laws. I think that, in order to address that, this is one way of giving them a direction.

This committee report is very vague. With all due respect, there are no recommendations. It's basically a report on the report that the government presented. I find that I was somewhat disappointed in reading that report because it was really vague in giving direction to the government. What do we want in our liquor laws that we want developed? We have an archaic liquor law system. How do we want to shape it? This is a form of shaping it. We sit here every day, and many times when we sit here we always say that the biggest problem in the Northwest Territories is alcohol and drug abuse. Until we, as leaders, offer some guidance as to how we are going to deal with alcohol, then I can't see it getting any better.

I mean, sure, a few campaigns do provide public education. It's something that we've got to deal with. But at the same time, I think that if we want to change laws which will affect people then I believe that we have to certainly go out and ask the people if they want the laws changed. I think that this is the fairest, most effective, cheapest way of finding out whether or not the people of the Northwest Territories want to raise the drinking age legally from 19 to 21.

So with that, Mr. Chairman, I certainly hope that Members take that into consideration when they vote on this motion, not placing MLAs in the position of having to make a decision on something like this, that it's the people of the Northwest Territories that will decide this, and the easiest way to decide this is to see a plebiscite question during the territorial election. Thank you.

The hour being 6:00 pm, I will rise and report progress to the Speaker. Thank you.

The House will come back to order. Item 20, report of committee of the whole, Mr. Ningark.