All those opposed, please rise. All those abstaining, please rise.

The results of the recorded vote are: seven in favour, zero opposed, nine abstentions. The motion is carried.

---Carried

Mr. Testart.

Mr. Chair, I move that this Assembly recommend that the Government of the Northwest Territories consider specific spending targets for the disbursement of cannabis-related revenues aimed at public education, public awareness, and public health research related to cannabis use;

And further, that the Liquor Commission report on cannabis sales in its annual report. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So, this addresses the concern we heard from the public, even in communities that did not want cannabis or that did not want cannabis opportunities or did not see any side of the economic equation but were merely looking at it from a public safety / public health equation. I believe all or at least the vast majority wanted a share of cannabis revenues, either to help them with enforcement, to help with public education. In Inuvik, for example, we heard someone say all of the cannabis revenue should go to community public infrastructure to close the infrastructure gap there. So, clearly, there was a lot of concern. Whether or not you wanted business opportunities, there was always a constant concern about revenue sharing and how the revenue was going to be reflected in community-level priorities and public health priorities. So, the committee tried to find a balanced approach and recommend that cannabis revenues be used in the most appropriate way, and this motion identifies those.

If I could just get Members to quiet down and maybe turn off their mobile devices. There have been quite a few distractions during this debate, and it's important material, so I would appreciate if Members on both sides of the House would comply. Thank you. Sorry, Mr. Testart. Please continue.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate your intervention. Further, as to what I was saying, the three areas that we identify here as a committee; public education, public awareness, and public health research related to cannabis use, were felt to be the most appropriate uses for any potential cannabis-related revenues, and these are areas that largely are underdeveloped.

Obviously, we have only begun public education; public awareness is also in its early stages; and public health research is very limited. It's hard to study an illicit substance, and the limited information we have is not a complete picture of cannabis use. I contrast that with tobacco usage, where we can look at a tobacco smoker from an entire lifetime compared to someone who does not smoke tobacco and compare health outcomes, but we cannot do that with cannabis. So, by funding these activities, I think it will ultimately result in a more informed and better-educated public when it comes to legal cannabis.

Further, my notes from our consultation said something that kept coming up each and every hearing we had: public education is key to responsible cannabis usage. So I think the people very much understand, the people we serve very much understand, that public education is going to be the most important responsibility of this or any future government in dealing with cannabis or any other addictive substance.

Finally, to get a better picture of the market, the consumption rates, the recommendation is also that the Liquor Commission report on cannabis sales in its annual report and that can be reviewed by the Assembly and by the public, as well. I hope Members will be able to support this committee motion that was developed by both standing committees, and I would like a recorded vote when the time comes. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Testart. Ms. Green.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I realize the government is hoping that cannabis will be a huge seller so that they can use all the revenue to fix the road to Tuktoyaktuk and build future roads, as well, but, really, the better use would be to use it for the purposes for which my colleague has just described.

I want to demonstrate some support for this idea from the youth who were here for the youth Parliament earlier this month. They passed a resolution that says this:

"Whereas the Northwest Territories has above-average rates of drug and alcohol use and abuse by youth among Canadian princes and territories; and whereas heavy use of drug and alcohol has been demonstrated to contribute to irreversible harm in terms of mental and physical health outcomes;

And whereas youth are especially vulnerable to long-term effects of drug and alcohol use and abuse on brain function and development; and whereas the Government of the Northwest Territories earns millions of dollars annually from the sale of alcohol within the territory and is expected to earn additional revenue from the pending legalization of recreational cannabis;

Now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake," --- as unlikely as that seems,

---Laughter

"the Youth Parliament 2018 strongly recommends that the Department of Health and Social Services and the Department of Education, Culture and Employment work collaboratively to ensure that youth wellness and mental health professionals be made available to all youth throughout the territory;

And further, that a portion of revenues from the sale of alcohol and cannabis be dedicated to developing and promoting educational materials on the risks of drug and alcohol use and abuse by youth, and that these materials become a component of the health curriculum delivered in all Northwest Territories schools."

Passed on May 17^th, right here in this Chamber. What I want to demonstrate by that is that I think there is awareness of the need to supplement education and wellness funding in the addictions field, and that there is an anticipation that this should include cannabis as well as other issues, primarily alcohol-related, that are dealt with now.

I think that we should listen to the youth and to the people who we heard on our travels who thought that this special-purpose fund was a good idea. For that reason, I will be supporting this motion. Thank you.

Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Yes, I will be supporting this motion. Part of the problem here is that we do not even have a plan for implementation of cannabis legalization. We have asked for that. I know we dealt with that in the first motion, but we do not even know what the costs are going to be. You know, the Regular MLAs who travelled to the communities, we were put in the position of having to explain that all the revenues were just going to go into the consolidated revenue fund. There is no guarantee that any of this money, revenues from cannabis sales, is actually going to get spent on health promotion. We do not know, in fact none of us really knows, what it's going to get spent on because it goes into the general pot, and that's different than the approach that is being taken by some governments.

The federal government has said that the revenues that they get they will put into health promotion. That is a good commitment. We do not have that from our government. I have also heard that some of the provincial jurisdictions are looking at sharing as much as 40 per cent of revenues with local governments, because their costs will be increased in many ways. I am also aware that, in New Brunswick, the provincial government has negotiated with their suppliers to set aside 2 per cent of the gross sales value into a special fund that will be used for health promotion. I understand, you know, we don't know what the sales levels are going to be here, but I would urge our Cabinet colleagues to look at the approach that New Brunswick has adopted.

You know, governments are notoriously opposed to targeted revenues. They just hate targeted revenues, because it ties their hands, but we heard this in all the communities that we went to. You know: what is the money going to be used for, and is any of it going to be directed specifically to healthcare, education, and so on? We don't know because there's no plan.

So my preference would have been to have something in the legislation itself deal with this, to ensure that there was a requirement that at least part of the revenues would be spent on health promotion, research, and public awareness, but we couldn't get that in the bill because that's not the way it was crafted, and it's outside the scope of what's already been put together. It's a financial matter, so we couldn't make that kind of change. So this is a poor second cousin to that, but at the end of the day, I do support this motion. Hopefully our Cabinet colleagues are going to respond to this in a meaningful way and ensure that some of the revenues are actually spent to supplement the existing monies that are spent for these purposes. Thanks, Mr. Chair

Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Mr. Blake.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, this did come up in communities, and the big question was: who is going to pay for public education, public awareness? Also there was, I think, one or two people who actually brought up the health side of things, which we didn't really look at. They asked some good questions, like long-term impacts on our people's health and who is going to be paying that.

So our residents felt that a portion of the money that is being raised through whether it is taxes can be set aside for paying for some of this, and I'm sure it will be going to a lot of our programs, anyway. Even some students brought up that through the education system a little bit more targeted towards the use of cannabis or marijuana, a little bit more education on that front that needs to be put into our curriculum. A little bit of what they picked up was whatever they found online. Because they were given notice that we were going to meet with them, some students actually read up on it on their own. I believe it's in Tuktoyaktuk, the students mentioned that it's really not brought up through, say, Health, for example, or through the courses that they take. Just more education. So a little tweaking on the education front, what's been provided in the schools, more public awareness. So I have no trouble supporting this one. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Blake. I will allow the mover to close debate. We have Mr. McNeely.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. As I heard, and as I said, education is going to be a vital component in moving forward after legislation is passed. It's not just passing and then it's over and done with; there is going to be a great deal of after-care taken through education, and I'm glad to see that wording of revenues aimed at public education, public awareness, and on the health side of educating the public to the side effects of consuming cannabis. So I support this on the principle of what I heard and what I said on education. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Does the House wish the question to be put to them? The question has been called. The Member has indicated he would like a recorded vote. All those in favour, please rise.

All those opposed, please rise. All those abstaining, please rise.

The results of the recorded vote are: 10 in favour, zero opposed, six abstentions. The motion is carried.

---Carried

Mr. Thompson.