Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Finance, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, I agree with the Member that there is a need to do an overall review of our liquor legislation and regulations. To do that is time consuming and probably several years of work.

In the meantime though, if incidences do come up, then we may have to bring forward some changes to specific sections in the act on an interim basis until we are able to do the complete review. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I hope the Minister is not stating that we are going to be influenced by special interest groups to make amendments in their case without having a full review.

I think the importance of having a full review is to ensure that we have full consultation and that we do not just pick and choose what amendments we like or what amendments we want to put in place. I would like to ask the Minister, would you seriously consider that before any minor amendments are made, you consider the possibility of a thorough review so that everyone has input, from the communities to the regions to the larger centres?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Finance, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, if the Member is referring to the special occasion permits and this one kind of incident, then that is clearly within the authority of the board itself. There should be no need for any legislative change there at all. It is just a matter of the board interpreting together a policy and possibly reinterpreting the policy that they have in place now. There is no question. We will not make any changes to the liquor legislation until we have had the review, with the exception of some things that we run into.

For example, several months ago, an inconsistency was brought to our attention between the lotteries legislation and the Liquor Act. We have to resolve that kind of problem. I hope the Member and others will bear with us as we make these one-time changes before we can finish an overall review. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the communities I represent have had concerns with regard to the Liquor Act, especially when it comes to plebiscites that take place in our different communities. The way the percentages are allocated, it makes it awfully hard for communities to really have their voice heard and ensure they have enough people turning out so that the plebiscites go forth.

Again, I would like to advise the Minister that if you are going to make any amendments, no matter how small they are, you ensure that all communities up and down the Territory have input with respect to also allowing them the ability to amend the act. Will the Minister ensure that there is a process that is fair to everyone in the Northwest Territories?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Finance, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, I will ensure that the processes that we use are fair to everyone throughout the Territories. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Final supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister whether his department has done a run-over of the previous legislative recommendations to change the NWT Liquor Act. I would like to ask the Minister exactly what action is being taken by his department to ensure that we do have a review at some point on the Liquor Act, knowing it is probably one of the biggest areas of concern and problems that we have in the Northwest Territories, which is associated with alcohol? I would like to ask the Minister what he and his department are doing to ensure that we take the right steps to ensure that we follow up on previous attempts to change the act?

Mr. Speaker, the department and I personally have taken a look at the review that was done in the early 1990s. There are some good recommendations in there. That report, though, is quite dated and it was my department's recommendation, and I concur with them, that rather than trying to implement a report that was done eight years ago, we are better off to do a whole new review. I certainly look forward to discussing this further with Members. Apart from time constraints, I am very interested in doing a review as Mr. Krutko is suggesting. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Nitah.