Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wanted to talk today about youth smoking in the Northwest Territories. I know the Department of Health and Social Services recently released a document titled Smoke Alarm, and it is an environmental scan of smoking in the Northwest Territories. Indeed, many of the findings and statistics in this report are, Mr. Speaker, alarming.

A couple of things that I have browsed over really shocked me. One being that over 42 percent of the population over the age of 17 in the Northwest Territories smoke. That is much higher than the Canadian average. In regard to children, Mr. Speaker, in some of our communities, almost one-quarter of ten-to 14-year-olds smoke and three-quarters of 15-to 17-year-olds also smoke.

I think when we think about youth smoking, one of the problems is the fact that youth have such easy access to tobacco. A recent survey discovered that less than half of ten-to 14-year-olds attempting to buy cigarettes were asked their age, Mr. Speaker. I do not know about you, but most of the ten-to 14-year-olds in my neighbourhood do not look 18. It is certainly quite shocking, Mr. Speaker.

I think we need larger fines for merchants selling to children under 18, but more importantly, I think we need to focus on enforcement. We could do this, Mr. Speaker, but it would take this government making it a priority. We know we have liquor inspectors who go around to establishments on a weekly, sometimes daily, basis to make sure we do not have underage drinking or over capacity. The kind of effort we put into policing merchants who sell cigarettes pales in comparison to this, Mr. Speaker.

The Alberta Government just passed Bill 208, which is the Prevention of Youth Tobacco Use Act, and it allows for fines for minors smoking in public. There is some research, Mr. Speaker, to show that this kind of thing works. Woodridge, Illinois, a community just west of Chicago, has had similar legislation and enforcement. They are reporting 70 percent lower rates for youth smoking than other surrounding areas.

Mr. Speaker, I am not saying we need to start fining kids who smoke, but we do need to do more. We need to get creative. We need to follow the example being set by groups like the Non-Puffers Youth Group in Fort Providence that had such an impression on all of us. Mr. Speaker, in short, we need to encourage people to make healthy choices. Thank you.

-- Applause