Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I think this is an important question. I thank the Member for Thebacha for having forced the issue. I think the Standing Committee on Legislation did look at the issue, but by having this motion in front of us, we are all forced to think about it and weigh both sides of the problem.

Mr. Chairman, I tend to believe that prohibition doesn't work. I am afraid I have to say that we haven't many examples of success with prohibition, and I have to agree with the committee that education is the best chance we have for dealing with the problem, education and trying to deal with the root cause of alcohol problems which are probably a symptom of much deeper problems in our society.

I think that, as Mr. Koe has pointed out, if you have the right to vote, if you have the right to serve in your country's armed forces, if you have the responsibility to do certain things in your country, you should also share in the other adult rights. You should be seen as responsible enough -- old enough, at least -- to have the responsibility to make informed decisions. Not everybody in our society will make informed decisions for themselves but we can't set our rules and our laws up for the minority who choose not to follow through.

I think that by having raised this issue it will now become much more of a public thing. To date, I, for instance, have not heard from a lot of my constituents that they think that the drinking age should be raised.

I think that an important consideration is the cost of the plebiscite and especially since it would have to be a now enumeration to run a plebiscite. I am certain that with an election this fall and us having now talked about the issue in the Legislature, a lot of us will be dealing with this issue in our constituencies. I think that MLAs, after an election -- when this is an issue during an election -- will be quite qualified to report to this Assembly what their constituents said and to represent their constituents by voting on the matter when the new Liquor Act comes before the Members.

I can certainly commit to trying to find out what the constituents in my constituency think during the upcoming campaign, so I'm sure it will be an issue in the campaign. Mr. Chairman, based on that, I'm afraid that I, too, will say that I will be voting against this motion. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.