Thank you. Mr. Vanthuyne.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you for the update. It is well appreciated. I know that reaching out to licence holders will be well appreciated. I am sure they will comment heavily on that.

We know that cannabis legislation is coming forward, and the government has indicated that the liquor commission will be the one heading up the aspects around cannabis revenues. I am just wondering: can the Minister give us a little update on are we developing a full on cannabis act? Will there be a new cannabis revolving fund? How do we intend to manage this? Will it have a lot of similarities to the liquor revolving fund? I think the public would like to know what the intentions are with managing the resources that we generate from cannabis sales. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, we are working with Justice on their development of the legislation, and my understanding is that something is supposed to coming forward soon. Thank you.

Thank you. Mr. Vanthuyne.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Again, with all due respect as it relates to finance and the actual development, we have indicated in the past that it is the liquor commission that is going to be overseeing this in the meantime. How are we going to account for the revenues generated by cannabis? Do we intend to develop a cannabis revolving fund, or is it just going to get lumped in with the liquor revolving fund? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Mr. Stewart.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Vanthuyne canvassed my questions.

Thank you. Nothing further from Ms. Green. Mr. Testart.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So I am glad my honourable friend raised this topic. One thing we've heard from the federal government in their projections of revenue and expenditure is that the cannabis revenues are going to be far less nationally, or federally I should say, than they will be to run the regulatory system that they need to enforce the new cannabis laws and regulations. So my question is: with the Liquor Commission or liquor system as the controlling agent for cannabis, what are the costs going to be? What are the current cost projections for all the new enforcement and resources we need to put in place for enforcement, regulation, and control, versus the anticipated revenues? Because I have not seen either of those figures. Do they exist? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Testart. Mr. Stewart.

Thank you. Mr. Testart.

Thank you, and I agree with that kind of assessment of where the costs are coming from. It's less the administration, if we do follow this model. So the cannabis revenues that come in, some jurisdictions have committed to use all of the revenues to support public health initiatives, and certainly addictions treatment is a major concern in the Northwest Territories. So the Minister or his official spoke to how we are going to see the cannabis revenues in the main estimates, and by extension the public accounts, but what is the plan for using those revenues? Is it going to be a dedicated purpose for public health purposes, or is it just going to general revenues along the line of Liquor Tax revenues and Tobacco Tax revenues? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Testart. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, first of all I think the revenue from cannabis would show up under the Liquor Revolving Fund under a separate line item, I think, as cannabis. And as far as dedicated spending, we have not had that discussion yet to determine that. It's a bigger discussion than just talking about it here on the floor of the House. Obviously we have to work with committee and get some feedback from them, and then we'll make a determination as to whether we are going to make a dedicated stream of revenue or spending for the revenue from cannabis. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister. Mr. Testart.

Thank you, and I can speak for myself, I am very much looking forward to that work, Mr. Chair, and I appreciate the Minister has made previous statements that he's looking forward to this work with committee as well, but it's just a little troubling when we are looking at the budget for the coming year and there is very little detail on revenue and spending on this issue that we know we have to deal with. So currently the board, or the commission, handles the enforcement of liquor licensing and those sorts of issues around liquor matters. The way forward document for cannabis is silent on who is going to be doing the inspections, and as that legislation is coming forward from the Department of Health and Social Services, there seems to be this disconnect. I am wondering if, with all the cannabis products being housed under the Liquor Commission, if the intention is to bring the inspection side of it under the Liquor Board as well. So are we going to have cannabis inspectors and liquor inspectors, or cannabis/liquor inspectors, or are there going to be occupational health and safety officers? I am just looking for clarity on where the inspection side for our regulations is going to come from. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Testart. Mr. Stewart.

Thank you. Mr. Testart.

So one of the details, if the Minister can confirm this, but one of the details the department is willing to commit to today is that liquor stores are going to be the primary agency for distributing cannabis products in the Northwest Territories. Is that correct?