All those abstaining, please rise.

The results of the recorded vote are: nine in favour, one opposed, six abstentions. Motion is carried.

---Carried

Mr. Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this Assembly recommend that the Government of the Northwest Territories develop economic development programming to support northern entrepreneurship related to cannabis sales and production. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Thompson. There is a motion on the floor. To the motion. Mr. Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Government of the Northwest Territories has several strong and successful programs to support entrepreneurship and economic development opportunities, including the Support to Entrepreneurs and Economic Development, SEED, Policy.

The government has done some really good stuff and good work on there. This motion here is to encourage the government to repeat that Northerners are eager to pursue the economic benefits of legalization and to target programming addressing cannabis-specific planning and programs that would help local businesses. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Mr. Vanthuyne.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. You heard me say in my opening comments that I would like to see this initiative, this bill, translate into business opportunities for northern entrepreneurs, and this committee motion supports that.

As the report alludes to, committee heard in a number of communities that they wanted to see the opportunity for economic diversification. A number of the communities are in situations where employment is in dire need. This could be seen as an opportunity to help vet that.

We also understand that this is an opportunity in which we can make cannabis use a little bit safer. If the only avenue that we are going to undertake is selling cannabis through a handful of stores managed by the territorial government, then you can bet that the back channels of illicit sales and black market activities will continue.

The government, I think, can look at this as also the opportunity to generate additional revenues through taxation. The more opportunity that we allow for the market to get into the retail of cannabis, then certainly this is going to become a revenue generator through permits and taxation.

This clearly supports our mandate as a government as it relates to economic diversification, as it relates to support for even manufacturing, and most certainly for small business and entrepreneurs, but most importantly, this also will have our government develop programming, and that programming will help to further inform and educate those people having an interest. One can envision, potentially, BDIC having specific programming to do just that. For those reasons, I will be supporting the motion. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Vanthuyne. Next, we have Mr. Testart.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The laws of supply and demand have a particular relevance to illicit substances such as cannabis, or any drug for that matter. Narcotics are easy to produce, especially cannabis. It is a weed; it grows just about anywhere. It is easy to produce, and the price point of cannabis is, in fact, created largely by its illegal status, which has fuelled the profitability for organized crime and low-level dealers to make a living off the sale of illicit cannabis.

To deal with that market, because clearly the demand in the Northwest Territories is very high, as it is across the country, the correct way to disable this market and this illicit trade of cannabis is to control the prices and make it preferable to purchase a regulated source of cannabis for recreational use outside black market channels. The only way that we are going to get there is if we can ensure that the price point is low enough that we can keep the prices down.

Recent economic analysis, which isn't complete because the consumption of cannabis is largely underground, shows that price point as somewhere around $7.50 on grey market and black market sales. The proposed rule in Canada is at least a starting point of $10 per gram. Yukon, our neighbours, have announced that it will be $8 per gram. Our government has not announced anything yet, and my fear is that the wholesale price for cannabis will come in much higher than we can effectively make the price affordable and accessible, and we will continue to see people go to their drug dealers for cannabis.

Economic analysis also shows that there is a lot of price sensitivity toward cannabis from chronic users. As much as a dollar in price difference will keep people from buying legal cannabis. Price controls are crucial. If we are relying on southern wholesalers, which appears to be the case, I am skeptical that we will get the best possible deal, just because our market is so small compared to Alberta, compared to British Columbia, compared to Ontario. If we can't effectively control the wholesale price, then we can't pass that off to consumers without massive subsidies, which this government, quite frankly, can't afford or is not going to prioritize.

How do we get around this? Well, we privatize as much of the components of the retail system and the production system as possible. Production is regulated by the federal government, but that doesn't mean our government can't provide support and be an agent and advocate for people with licences in the Northwest Territories who want to grow and supply our retail market. If the supply chain is short enough to be located in the Northwest Territories, I think we can at least offset some of those costs and keep the wholesale price low, which will, in turn, keep the retail price low, which will get cannabis off the streets and into the regulated market. If we do nothing and the wholesale price remains too high, then nothing is going to change, and that is the worst-case scenario, so we need to do more.

In addition to it being about entrepreneurs and about supporting entrepreneurs who are willing to take a risk, this is about achieving our public safety goals, about ending prohibition and developing a system that works and that works to keep our people safe. It is not going to be easy. It is going to mean taking some risks and a government that is willing to take risks and bet on Northerners. I encourage this government to do exactly that.

Finally, anyone who wants to be either a retailer of cannabis or a producer of cannabis is going to have to take a risk because the market is untested. Right now, people who are looking to do that across this country are being advised to talk to hedge fund managers and investment analysts because there are risks involved, but people are still willing to take these risks. I know that there are people in this community who have licenses from Health Canada to grow cannabis. They are federally licensed to produce medical marijuana. Those people are willing to step up to the plate and get involved in the production here in the North if the government is willing to take them up on that offer and support their ambitions.

I hope that the government will take this motion seriously, that they won't wait until 120 days later to say, "We thought about it, but we're not going to do it," but take this seriously because the benefits to the public are going to be a lower price point for wholesale cannabis, which will be a lower price point for retail cannabis, which will take it off of the streets, out of the black market, and into the regulated market, which is exactly what we are trying to do. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. McNeely.

Mr. Chair, my questions have been answered.

Mr. Nakimayak.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I won't reiterate too much; we've gone through this a lot. I would like to think about the federal government and also Indigenous governments, as well, while this is being said. I think some parts of that are left out, so we need to look at those other entities, as well. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Blake.

Thank you, Mr. Blake. Is the House ready for the question? Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Yes, I'm going to support this, but I think that the expectations of some, in terms of the economic opportunities from cannabis sales, are not going to be nearly as significant as some folks seem to claim, and I am worried that we are setting up some people to fail by raising some very high expectations around this. I do think that there are probably more significant opportunities available around local production, but that is going to take a bit of time to sort out, as well. We do have programs under SEED that could support both, I think, sales and production. Having cannabis special programs to target cannabis sale and production, I'm not sure we need to go that far. At the end of the day, I will support the motion, but I do have some reservations, like my colleague from the Mackenzie Delta, about this. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Mr. Nadli. To the motion.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, I agree with my colleague, too, that I think we are kind of raising the expectations pretty high, if I could put it that way. In one instance we're going to study an established working group and study the idea of the entrepreneurial and economic aspect of this initiative. Then here we are kind of jumping, taking a leap in terms of establishing economic development programs and then supporting northern entrepreneurs, so there are expectations that are really high, and we need to ensure that we are fairly consistent.

I think a colleague had expressed that, in the communities that we visited, there were a few people who spoke in favour of the business or economic aspect of cannabis legalization. For the most part, what I've heard, at least from my communities, is an overall social concern in terms of how it will impact the community; but, in saying that, I will support this motion.

Thank you. I will allow the mover to close debate and ask for a recorded vote if he wants. Mr. Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I appreciate everybody speaking on this behalf. I guess this recommendation is being proactive instead of reactive, so we are trying to be proactive and are trying to move forward. We've heard that there is the potential of it to fail and there is potential to be successful, but it is no different than any other business. If you do a good plan, you are going to be successful, you know, and right now that's what we are trying to do, is we are trying to develop programs that will help the people be successful that put a good plan together. That, to me, is what we are recommending. I appreciate everything, just what I've heard from my riding, and I've had letters that they want to do businesses and they want to have production. Is it feasible? I'm not sure, but there are people who are already starting to work on it. So I thank everybody for their comments, and, yes, I would like a recorded vote, thank you.