Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Are we dealing with the liquor laws? I will speak very briefly to the issue.

Mr. Chairman, I represent two dry communities in my region, one being my home community, Pelly Bay, and the other, Gjoa Haven. Many years ago when I was working for the hamlet, the people of Pelly Bay wanted to go dry, and we communicated with the government at that time through Social Services and through the Justice Minister's department. Because of the problems the use of alcohol was causing for the community, a number of elders got together with some of the community leadership and they wanted to do something about the problem. So the community petitioned the government, and we were told that when we have a plebiscite, if the majority of the people wanted to go dry then that would be the decision of the community through the plebiscite, Mr. Chairman.

For the people of the community, mainly the elders and some women who were very anxious to go through with the plebiscite, the anticipation was that once we have a dry community it will remain a dry community. It will be such: a dry community. We didn't realize, Mr. Chairman, that once you have a plebiscite and the majority of the people decided to go dry then you have a dry community. We didn't realize then, Mr. Chairman, that it was only a technically dry community. Just about every other week -- I am sure this is also the case in Gjoa Haven, Pelly Bay and probably other dry communities in the particular jurisdiction -- people bring in liquor from other communities that are wet.

We have had many public meetings about this problem of alcohol in a dry community; I underline "a dry community." We have had many meetings. Some of the leadership, elders and women are frustrated that, because of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, there is little a law enforcement agency can do to make sure that a dry community is a dry community. We were told many times by the Justice people and by the RCMP enforcement agency that only if the RCMP has a reasonable ground to believe that a person is in fact bringing in liquor can that person be searched.

So, as a result, because there is not much the law enforcement agency can do to search for liquor, even though Pelly Bay is supposed to be a dry community as is the case in Gjoa Haven, people still drink. Perhaps the problem is not as big as a totally wet community but there is a problem in a dry community.

I don't know if there is much we can do about enforcing dry communities to make sure that there is no liquor in the community but I don't think in this particular jurisdiction there is such a dry community. To me, it's a big joke. I think it's a big joke that dry communities are supposed to be dry communities.

I wish that there was something that we could do about that. I wish that once the community decides to become a dry community, it is a dry community. Okay. Just a point I would like to make. Thank you.