This is page numbers 4103 - 4182 of the Hansard for the 18th Assembly, 3rd Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was going.

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Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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The Chair

The Chair Daniel McNeely

Agreed. Committee, we will defer Bill 21, An Act to Amend the Northwest Territories Business Development and Investment Corporation Act, until after consideration of the clauses. Please turn to page 1 of the bill. I will read out, starting at Clause number 1. Does committee agree?

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Some Hon. Members

Agreed.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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The Chair

The Chair Daniel McNeely

Clause 2?

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Some Hon. Members

Agreed.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Daniel McNeely

Clause 3?

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Some Hon. Members

Agreed.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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The Chair

The Chair Daniel McNeely

Clause 4?

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Some Hon. Members

Agreed.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Daniel McNeely

Clause 5?

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Some Hon. Members

Agreed.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Daniel McNeely

Clause 6?

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Some Hon. Members

Agreed.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Daniel McNeely

Clause 7?

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Some Hon. Members

Agreed.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Daniel McNeely

Committee, to Bill 21 as a whole, does committee agree that Bill 21, An Act to Amend the Northwest Territories Business Development and Investment Corporation Act, is now ready for third reading?

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Some Hon. Members

Agreed.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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The Chair

The Chair Daniel McNeely

Bill 21 is now ready for third reading. Does committee agree this concludes our consideration of Bill 21?

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Some Hon. Members

Agreed.

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The Chair

The Chair Daniel McNeely

Thank you, Minister, and thank you to your witnesses. Sergeant-at-Arms, please escort the witnesses from the Chamber. [Microphone turned off] Bill 6, and I would like to ask the Minister responsible for the bill to introduce the bill. Minister Sebert.

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Louis Sebert

Louis Sebert Thebacha

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am pleased to be here today to talk to you about Bill 6, Cannabis Legalization and Regulation Implementation Act.

I would like to thank the Standing Committee on Social Development and the Standing Committee on Government Operations for their review of this bill and for the constructive feedback they have provided. A number of motions were made in committee, and I am pleased that the bill has improved as a result.

The development of Bill 6 required significant interdepartmental collaboration and has benefited from feedback from the public, Indigenous governments, community governments, and other stakeholders, received during an extensive engagement process that occurred during the summer and fall of 2017. Since that time, the joint standing committee has conducted further engagement with residents, and we look forward to hearing about that today.

We recognize that not everyone agrees with all aspects of the legislation being proposed, but, as a government, we have an obligation to make the best decisions we can to design a system that puts the health and safety of our residents first and that follows the guiding principles that received overwhelming support during the engagement.

In addition to the feedback received from our cannabis engagement process, other important factors that were considered when determining our approach included:

  • discussion and information from other jurisdictions;
  • discussion with enforcement partners;
  • practical and financial implications for implementation in the required timeframe; and
  • current research on the health impacts of cannabis.

Bill 6 includes three schedules.

In the first schedule, the Department of Finance proposes the new Cannabis Products Act. This will enable the GNWT to assume responsibility for the importation and sale of cannabis products through the Liquor Commission, under the direction of the Minister of Finance. The Act will provide for a cannabis mail-order system to communities that do not have a retail store, and those communities will have the option of holding a plebiscite to decide if restrictions or prohibitions will be put in place. The new act will set 19 years of age as the legal minimum for purchase and possession of cannabis and maintain the federal possession limits, which will allow adults 19 years of age and older to possess up to 30 grams in public and to grow up to four plants in a household.

In the second schedule, the Department of Health and Social Services is proposing the new Cannabis Smoking Control Act. It will place restrictions on the public smoking of cannabis products similar to laws governing the smoking of tobacco products, with a number of additional restrictions. The new act will also require cannabis retail outlets to post health warning signage distributed by the department.

In the third and final schedule, the Department of Infrastructure has proposed several amendments to the Motor Vehicles Act to create additional penalties for drug and alcohol impaired drivers. These will include zero tolerance laws for novice drivers, drivers aged 21 and under, and commercial drivers. Administrative licence suspensions will also be established for all drivers who fail a standardized field sobriety test or an evaluation by a drug recognition expert. The current legislation governing impaired driving will be amended to appropriately address drug-impaired driving and to reflect the repeal and replacement of the transportation section of the Criminal Code under the federal Bill C-46. Amendments are also proposed to allow the Registrar of Motor Vehicles to release driver's abstracts directly to law enforcement.

I would like to acknowledge the collaboration amongst departments to bring forward this legislation under the challenging timelines, and also the willingness of the committees to work together to review this bill and to ensure we are in a position to respond effectively to the federal legislation.

I would be pleased to answer any questions regarding Bill 6. Thank you.

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The Chair

The Chair Daniel McNeely

Thank you very much, Minister. I would now like to ask the chairs of the Standing Committee on Social Development and Government Operations which reviewed this bill to make comments. Mr. Thompson.

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Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I am going to start out a little something here personally. People realize I personally did not support the legalization of cannabis. I would have liked to have seen the legalization process adjourned for at least another year. We heard that in the communities to get it done right. Unfortunately, this was brought by the federal government, and we needed to get it done right, as I said before.

I am one of the MLAs who represent small communities. I want to make that very clear. There are six communities in my riding, five small communities and one regional centre.

Mr. Chair, yesterday, I spoke about the consultation that the committee undertook, and what we learned on our travels. It is our jobs as Regular MLAs to listen to what the people are saying, and to come back and find ways to make amendments to the bill that will make it better based on what we want, what the people want. I take the job very seriously, and I also take my role as the Chair of the Standing Committee of Social Development very seriously. The committee system is a system of teamwork. It is not always easy to work on a team. You have to listen to the input of your colleagues. We have had to make compromises and trade-offs that respect the needs of other Members and their ridings while still being true to the needs of your own constituents.

The joint standing committees worked very hard on the bill to improve Bill 6. In total, there were 22 motions to amend the bill. Nine of these were government motions, and two were made by an individual Member. The remaining 11 were motions of the joint committee. Government concurred with all but two of the committee's motions. These are the motions we will be considering today, and I will speak to each in more detail at the right time.

For now, I want to say that the committee's motions to amend the bill were carefully considered. They were debated and discussed. We reached agreement, and we supplemented the motions to change the bill with a series of policy recommendations. I am proud of the work we did as a joint committee, which is reflected in our committee report, and I stand behind it. I believe this truly reflects what the people of my riding said about Bill 6.

I am aware that some of my colleagues of the joint committee may not be prepared to support the motions. This is deeply concerning for me, or disappointing for me. Personally, it is disappointing for me; however, I am aware that ordinary MLAs get a lot of pressure from outside this House, which sometimes changes what is happening. As I have heard, this is the reality of consensus government, and we have to respect it. We have worked hard, and we worked in good faith. We compromised to reach agreement on a way forward. Like I said, the committee worked as a team. I sincerely hope those who worked with me on the review of Bill 6 and who may now be thinking about not supporting the work of the committee will reconsider their position and support the work that we have collaborated to achieve. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

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The Chair

The Chair Daniel McNeely

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

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Kieron Testart

Kieron Testart Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I, too, want to thank the work of my colleagues on the Standing Committee of Government Operations and the Standing Committee on Social Development.

This was no easy task, and throughout the whole review period the committee was charged with the review of this bill. We had many developments hanging over us. Most importantly, the federal legislation that will legalize cannabis. I want to be clear that this legislation, Bill 6, is not the key to legalizing cannabis. Changes to the Criminal Code are, and that is the sole jurisdiction of the federal government.

During our review period, developments in the Senate called for a delay in implementation of the legislation. Many Members on the committee heard firsthand that we should be waiting. We shouldn't be rushing into this. I want to commend the dedication and the courage of committee Members to embrace this legislation and do the best job they can with it. As my honourable friend from Nahendeh just said, he is not in favour of cannabis legalization, and that is not an uncommon position in this House; however, the federal initiative and the momentum behind legal cannabis is to a degree where it's not stopping, and we have to see it through to the end, and we need to design rules and laws that suit the needs of our people. I feel that the work of the standing committee has done that.

Our recommendations and our efforts to improve the bill were made, not just from the community consultations, which are crucial at times like these when we are making changes to the fundamental nature of our society, but they also come from well-researched positions, and an extensive amount of research from our own research bureau that supports our committee work, and further, the individual priorities of Members.

Fundamentally, as much as people are concerned, and we've heard this loud and clear, about addictions in the Northwest Territories and the overwhelming social crisis that they represent, the prohibition of cannabis has failed. It has failed to keep communities safe. It has failed to keep cannabis out of the hands of kids. Nearly every community we went to, there was a witness who talked about the prevalence of cannabis in the community. It didn't matter if it was a small, isolated, rural, remote community, or the City of Yellowknife, cannabis is here in our communities. It is here today. Neither this legislation, nor the federal legislation that enables it, is introducing cannabis into the 33 communities in the Northwest Territories. It is already here, and we need a better system to deal with it.

What we have endeavoured to do, working together, is to build that system, and build it in a way that reflects the priorities of Northerners. This bill is very flexible, Mr. Chair. This bill, if passed, will allow for communities to determine their own rules for cannabis through a plebiscite process. It is very flexible towards possession limits, and it ensures the public safety by placing zero tolerance on impaired driving, which is a number one concern of people that we heard loud and clear.

I do share my colleagues' concerns around what will happen as we continue on these proceedings. The standing committees worked diligently together, and the support we received was consensus-based and reflective of the viewpoints of all of our ridings. Ten Members of this House served on that committee and worked together to produce the report. At the end of the day, I hope that we all can stand up, those same 10 Members can stand up, and support the motions that are brought forward, and we can ultimately complete our work of improving this bill.

The outstanding issues that will be brought forward on the floor of the House today that will seek to improve the bill, the amendments that will be brought forward by Members here, are crucially important to the people that we serve. They are supported by the consultations, they are supported by medical and scientific evidence, and they also support the intentions of this bill, which is to keep our community safe, to disrupt the black market, to fight against bootleggers and drug dealers, and to keep cannabis out of the hands of our kids.

I encourage everyone to let their viewpoints be known today, but also to reflect on the tremendous amount of work that the joint committee did on this bill and to work together once again to ensure that we can complete our work and improve this bill before it receives third reading. Thank you.

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The Chair

The Chair Daniel McNeely

Thank you, Mr. Testart. I know there are people already in line, but we will just finish the process first, then open it up.

I would now like to ask the Minister responsible for Bill 6 if he would like to bring witnesses into the House. Thank you, committee. I will now ask the Sergeant-at-Arms to escort the witnesses into the Chamber. Would the Minister please introduce his witnesses? Thank you.