I thank the Minister for that answer. Mr. Speaker, during the set of procurement policy oral questions with the Premier on February 14, 2018, the Premier stated that concerns around procurement are primarily due to difference of understanding and that, if Members were to provide a list of problems, a review could result. Mr. Speaker, does the Minister agree NGOs being excluded from registering under BIP is an issue, and will he commit with the Premier to finding a workable solution?

We are continually working on the process to improve it moving forward, but as I have stated in this House last week, I added one more, so we are up to three on the procurement process. If Members have issues with NGOs around the procurement process and the BIP process, they need to come to me. They cannot sit on that side of the House and just say there is a problem with it. Show something to me in writing or bring something to me, but just to sit there and talk about it is not going to prove anything.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I thank the Minister for that long-winded answer about working with us on the other side of the table. You know, that hallway works both ways. You can actually walk down to our side, too, and when we bring it up, you can actually talk to us about it. I am a little concerned with your answer there, but I will go on to my next question.

Mr. Speaker, I would be remiss not to point out the NWT Societies Act has provisions that clearly articulate that an NGO can be deemed as a corporation by way of registration, yet the BIP application process does not recognize this law. Can the Minister inform the House why not, and will he investigate and fix this BIP registration oversight once and for all? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Here is a tangible question. I will look into it and get back to the Member. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister of Finance about what is being contemplated for the rollout and regulation of our cannabis products. How is our mail order system going to work? Is this something that is going to be licensed and regulated in the Northwest Territories, or are we relying on the federal government in other provinces to do that licensing? Thank you.

Masi. Minister of Finance.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have been doing a lot of work on the NWT side as to how we want to roll this out, and once the legislation passes, we will be able to have a product that is made in the NWT. As far as the mail order, I believe that they are going to be regulated by the federal government, but I will confirm that and have a discussion with the Member. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We have a way forward document that lays out how the government plans to distribute cannabis products in the Northwest Territories, and mail order is an option for those communities that will not have access to cannabis stores. How are we going to tax mail order products? There have been concerns raised about lost revenue. How are we going to tax mail order cannabis?

We're still working out the details, but our plan is there is going to a tax on cannabis that's sold in the Northwest Territories. As far as products that are coming from outside the Northwest Territories, I would assume that they would be taxed at their point of sale. Again, I will confirm that. We are putting the details together. I do want to provide Members with the details once we get all our information together because the government has been doing a lot of work on this and recognizing the fact that it is coming down and we need to try and deal with it and mitigate the impact it's going to have on the Northwest Territories.

I do want to thank the Minister and acknowledge that he is opening the door for the collaboration on this issue. One thing I haven't seen addressed in any of the proposals going forward is a contemplation of cannabis co-ops or compassion clubs, or things along those lines. We've seen models like that in the past, but has the government done any research into a cannabis co-op model? How will that be regulated? How would that be run? How would it happen safely in the Northwest Territories?

Just off the top of my head, I'm not quite sure if we've done that work. Again, I will confirm that then and have a discussion with the Member. Again, I've made the offer before. That is we roll out our details and we gather more details. I'll be more than happy to sit down with Members and get their opinions and share that information with them.

Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Finally, with the acknowledgment from the federal government that the deadline for the retail models of cannabis distribution have been pushed back, is the Minister open to working with stakeholders and with this side of the House to iron out some of these details to create more opportunities for private sector distribution, for mail order distribution, for co-op distribution, for production of cannabis in the Northwest Territories? Because we have more time to work on this legislation. Is the Minister more open to those discussions and potentially changing the way forward so it's more flexible, it's more innovative, and it's not limiting our economic advantage with cannabis? Thank you.

The Minister is not more open. The Minister is always open to having a discussion with the stakeholders and Regular Members because this is an issue that we need to make sure we get the work done and get it done properly. The fact that the date has been pushed back, as we kind of anticipated, we will continue to do our work, have the discussions with the appropriate stakeholders, and then, when the federal government does decide to roll this out, I will assure the Members, the public, and the Northwest Territories that the government of the Northwest Territories will be ready. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Oral questions. Member for Nunakput.

Masi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The event that the Member was mentioning in his statement was a gathering that took place in 2017. At that time, the department did sponsor the Inuvialuit drummers and dancers to attend the event. We do support artists and northern performers as well as cultural delegates through funding programs. As you know, we do have a pot of funding and that, if anyone wants to look at attending the event, they get their applications into the department sooner than later before the end of the fiscal year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I appreciate the response from the Minister. My second question is: what level of financial or other types of support does the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment expect to pledge to this event?

Every year the department allocates about $100,000 for the support of northern performers and cultural delegates funding. As I mentioned earlier, I encourage anyone who wants to attend the event or any other events to submit a formal application to the department.

That's good information for organizations to know. My final question, and also just a comment: I think that the Indigenous Cultural Expo for Northwest Territories might be a good way to raise awareness of our cultures, languages, traditions, and arts. It also has a great potential to support our growing tourism sector. Mr. Speaker, will the Minister look into the idea and report his findings back to the Assembly of some events like this in the Northwest Territories?

Currently, the department supports a wide variety of events and programs that focus on our Indigenous cultures, languages, traditions, arts. To that, I can think right off the top of my head are the Great Northern Arts Festival, also the Metis Cultural Days that are in Hay River. Right across the parking lot here at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, we do that through exhibits and events throughout the year. We have over about 60,000 visits to the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre on a yearly basis. We also continue to support heritage fairs in the schools, among many other things, but any other suggestions or supports that we can do, we're gladly willing to look at them.