Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this is kind of a difficult question. I do not know even know who to pose the question to, so I am going to pose the question to the Minister of Health and Social Services. It's about elder abuse. Mr. Speaker, there is a real fear that there will be increased elder abuse, financial elder abuse, as a result of the legalization of cannabis. I would like to ask the Minister whether the Department of Health and Social Services has had discussions on that issue that may be looming. Thank you.

Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Member for raising the issue. It's not one that has actually been raised to us before. Having said that, the NWT Seniors' Society is an amazing organization. They have done a significant amount of work in these territories to put out literature and programs to educate people on elder abuse as well as help individuals combat elder abuse and provide resources to them so that they know where to go to and where they can get supports when those types of things are occurring.

They have not reached out to me indicating that they are concerned about the potential growth in this area as a result of cannabis. Having said that, I take the Member's point. I will work with the department to draft up some communication with them to see if there is an opportunity for dialogue. We do not know if this is going to be a problem, but we should be ready.

I have noticed in my work in my business as MLA how helpful the social workers are to the communities in all aspects, right from children to youth. I would like to ask the Minister if there will be any special training given to the social workers in this area, where it pertains to maybe as a result of the legalization of marijuana where it pertains to elder abuse.

Once again, I acknowledge that it is a valid conversation. I haven't had the conversation. I hear the Member. I am going to talk to the department, and I would like to reach out to the seniors' society. They are an important partner. I also point out that we are an important partner in combatting elder abuse. I have not done any analysis on this. I would like to know a little bit more about what's happening out there with respect to this particular topic before I make a commitment.

As many people in here know, I bring the issue of unemployment and the employment numbers of the small communities up many times in the House. That's even increased when we start talking about between the ages of 15 and 24. Then the employment rates are really low, when you get to that age category. That is the age category that I am concerned about that may be approaching the elders. You know, most times, Mr. Speaker, elders do not even mind doing it. They would give their last $20 to the youth in their own families, but I would just like to ask the Minister if there is some thought about any very specific treatment that could be targeted at that group, the youth, some sort of youth treatment very specific to cannabis to prevent future elder abuse in the small communities.

Once again, I take the Member's point. This is not a problem that we know exists or will exists. It's potentially there, and I am prepared to reach out to the NWT Seniors' Society to get their thoughts on whether they are concerned about this and whether or not they have had any discussion on plans. As far as education and training for our youth, we have been reaching out to youth. We have been working with Education, Culture and Employment to make sure that the message is out there on the harmful impacts of cannabis on the developing brain for youth up to 24 years old. That's going to continue. We need to continue to get that information out because every day there are new kids, and every day there are new 23-year-olds, and every day there are new 22-year-olds, and so we are working to get that information out there on a continual basis, making it part of our messaging going forward.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today my questions are for the Minister of Finance, of course about the topic of the day. Mr. Speaker, the government has decided to keep control of cannabis sales in-house for now, and only in communities with liquor stores for the next six months, it seems like. Of course, online orders will be shipped by regular mail, and we all know how long mail can take at times, and so I would like to ask the Minister: does the Minister have any concerns that this management regime will boost cannabis bootlegging in the small communities, in particular resulting in less effective control of the product and increasing demand on law enforcement? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Minister of Finance.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, cannabis is not new in the NWT. Legalized cannabis, though, is a controlled substance that is currently being distributed through liquor stores, as the Member pointed out, and federal requirements mean that it will be tracked from the seed-to-sale manner, and that has to be considered in our approach. I do not believe that legalization will add to illegal activities. We can use the liquor as a model. Even though liquor sales are legal, there is an illegal market that continues to exist. I think early indications are, and I can share some numbers, as of noon today we had 122 registered customers, we have had 37 orders placed, so we have had well over $5,000 worth of product that has been sold already. That is an early indicator, a 12-hour indicator, that we have put a dent into the illegal market. It is a controlled substance, so people who buy from a legal vendor will know that they have a federally controlled substance, and they can have the assurance that it is a safe product. I wish we could eliminate bootlegging completely, not only with cannabis but with liquor, but unfortunately, realistically, that is always going to exist.

Thank you to the Minister for his reply. Certainly, we appreciate getting the early indicators. It's at this point that I would almost feel like I would like to inject a Jeff Spicoli quote, but, in fact, I do not have one off the top of my head, so I will leave it at that. Bad joke number three. However, Mr. Speaker, if I can, now that pot is legal, the government has committed to opening private retailing in six months. We are seeing the excitement today in the media as retailers open across the country. Is the government committed to fully supporting retail cannabis as part of the growing and diversifying economy in the Northwest Territories?

Our commitment was to have regulation and processes in place to assess anybody considering opening a cannabis store. We have released our regulations and information guide for anyone who might be considering opening a cannabis store well before the sixth month, and we will work with anyone considering opening a cannabis store. Opening a store within the retail framework has been released.

Thank you to the Minister for his reply. That leads me to my next question, and that is: is the government currently accepting and processing applications so retailers can be ready next April, when the six months is up, or is April when we will start processing applications?

We have not been contacted by any potential retailers at this point. Should interested parties come forward, we will assess those as described in the information guide that was released. So we would work with those who are considering becoming a vendor because we have released the guide, so the answer, I guess, is yes, we would look at starting to process applications.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.

All right. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Minister for informing us of that. We can now look forward to the applications rolling in, hopefully. "Rolling" in, bad joke number four. Okay, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the government's retail cannabis framework document lays out a pretty detailed guide for retailers, and I want to commend the government for their effort on putting that together.

What steps is the department taking to prepare for its own inspection and enforcement when it comes to their role when private retailing is permitted? How is the government preparing as it relates to inspection and enforcement? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

That was almost number five, there. The agreement that a vendor enters into with the NWT Liquor and Cannabis Commission has online requirements and inspection activities. They would enter into an agreement that would allow for the inspections, and the online guide outlines the requirements that would be needed. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Hay River North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This cannabis issue is multi-facetted, so I have some questions for the Minister of Justice. He is not going to get off the hook today. There has been a lot of talk of the roadside testing for cannabis for impaired driving, so I would like an update from the Minister. I believe the NWT has procured these roadside drug-testing kits. Have they been distributed across the territory, and are they available to all officers? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Minister of Justice.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know that the roadside drug screening device was approved at the end of August, but I am not certain whether it has actually been deployed across the Northwest Territories as of yet. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Hopefully the Minister can provide that information sooner than later. This has been discussed in this House before. Officers are being trained to use the equipment, as well as, I believe, to detect impairment without the equipment. I know that there was a training program that officers were going through, and they had a timeline. How many officers in the territory have been trained to date in cannabis impairment testing?

There are different types of programs that are taking place. There is the Standardized Field Sobriety Testing and the Drug Recognition Expert Training. I can advise that 31 police officers are trained in the SFST, and four members have been trained in the DRE.