Thank you, Minister, and thank you to your witnesses for appearing before us. Sergeant-at-arms, you may escort the witnesses from the Chamber.

Committee has agreed to consider Bill 83, Liquor Act. I will ask the Minister of Finance to introduce the bill.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I am here this evening to present Bill 83, Liquor Act.

The bill addresses the recommendations resulting from the review of the Northwest Territories liquor legislation completed by the Department of Finance in 2022. The liquor legislation review resulted in several recommendations. 20 percent of those recommendations were directly related to the Liquor Act, and the remaining 80 percent of recommendations related to the liquor regulations or the operations that support those regulations.

Bill 83 was drafted to directly address the 20 percent of recommendations related to the Liquor Act and to achieve four main objectives:

1. Streamline how industry is regulated by introducing a new licensing and compliance approach;
2. Ensure safe public access to liquor by allowing different types of retail outlets;
3. Enhanced community control, including greater control over the introduction of liquor sales as well as the cessation of liquor sales in a community; and
4. Modernize liquor enforcement by updating inspection and investigation powers.

These changes will modernize and streamline the Liquor Act.

This concludes my opening remarks. I am prepared to answer any questions that Members may have.

Thank you, Minister. Would you like to bring witnesses into the Chamber?

Yes, please, Madam Chair.

Okay. Sergeant-at-arms, please escort the witness into the Chamber.

Minister, can you please introduce your witnesses.

Thank you, Madam Chair. On my left, I have Kelly Mahoney, the director of policy, legislation, and communications. And on my right, Victoria Carmichael, legislative drafter.

Thank you. And welcome. I will now turn to the chair of Standing Committee on Government Operations for any opening comments on Bill 83. Member for Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Bill 83, Liquor Act, received second reading in the Legislative Assembly on March 30th, 2023, and was referred to the Standing Committee on Government Operations for review.

The standing committee held a public hearing with the Minister of Finance in Yellowknife on May 29th, 2023. The committee then hosted three public meetings in Inuvik, Norman Wells, and Yellowknife. The committee also received one written submission.

The committee heard a range of views from the public engagement not limited to alcohol addictions, bootlegging, community control of liquor, consumption in public places, and server training. The committee recognizes many concerns will be addressed through regulations.

On July 28th, 2023, the standing committee held a clause-by-clause review of bill and moved two minor motions advanced by the department.

I would like to thank the public for their time to meet with committee and for the committee's work on the review of this bill. Individual Members may have additional comments or questions. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. I will now open the floor to general comments on Bill 83. Are there any general comments? Does committee agree to a clause-by-clause review of the bill; can we proceed to a clause-by-clause review of the bill?

Committee, we will defer the bill number and title until after consideration of the clauses. We will consider the clauses in groups. Please turn to page 1 of the bill.

Clauses 1 through 10, does committee agree?

Committee, to the bill as a whole, does committee agree that Bill 83, Liquor Act, is now ready for third reading?

Thank you, committee. Committee has agreed that Bill 83, Liquor Act, is now ready for third reading. Does committee agree that this concludes our consideration of Bill 83, Liquor Act?

Thank you, Minister. Thank you to your witnesses. Sergeant-at-arms, please escort the witnesses from the Chamber.

Committee has agreed to consider Bill 92, An Act to Amend the Petroleum Products and Carbon Tax Act, No. 3. I will ask the Minister of Finance to introduce the bill.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I am here this evening to present Bill 92, An Act to Amend the Petroleum Products and Carbon Tax Act, No. 3. The purpose of Bill 92 is to add carbon tax revenues sharing grants -- sharing community grants and annual reporting requirements to the carbon tax legislation. This bill represents our final collaborative effort to revise the territorial carbon tax regime to meet federal 2023 to 2030 carbon pricing benchmarks.

As part of March 23rd discussions concerning Bill 60, An Act to Amend the Petroleum Products and Carbon Tax Act, we worked together to better mitigate the additional carbon tax burden required for the Northwest Territories to continue to administer its own carbon tax regime. This collaboration led to my commitments to do the following:

• Implement a regional cost of living offset;
• Provide annual revenue sharing grants to community governments totaling 10 percent of net carbon tax revenues;
• Introduce legislation establishing community government revenue sharing;
• Strengthen annual reporting requirements; and
• Follow up with the federal government to ensure federal departments meet directly with Northwest Territories communities to discuss developing energy alternatives.

The cost of living offset benefit based on the region of residents was made effective July 1st, 2023. For the July 1st, 2023 to June 30th, 2024 interim benefit payments, those are made to residents until the Canada Revenue Agency completes its system change in the fall. At that time, residents will receive any applicable additional payments retroactive to July 1st of 2023.

Bill 92 represents my commitment to reduce the carbon tax burden on community governments through revenue sharing grants totaling 10 percent of net carbon tax revenues. These grants will provide flexible funding that may assist local governments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The allocation formula will be described in regulations and the intention is to provide each community government with a base funding amount plus a per capita allocation. This will provide appropriate support to community governments in larger communities while also recognizing that smaller communities are often in more remote locations where costs are higher.

Bill 92 is a good example of consensus government's style of getting things done. The 19th Legislative Assembly's approval for keeping territorial control of the carbon tax has meant that the GNWT retains the flexibility to design a made-in-the North solution that reflects northern priorities and circumstances.

I would like to thank the Standing Committee of Government Operations and the Member for Frame Lake for their tenacity and willingness to collaborate on this bill to demonstrate our commitment to making carbon prices work in the Northwest Territories. That concludes my opening remarks. I would be happy to answer any questions the Members may have.

Thank you, Minister. Before we bring witnesses in, we have to get -- we have to take a short, probably about a five-minute break. Yeah, five-minute break. We got to get the right motion. Seven-minute break. Go.

---SHORT RECESS

I now call Committee of the Whole back to order. Sorry about that, committee; we just had to get some documents printed.

Minister, would you like to bring witnesses into the Chamber?

Yes, please, Madam Chair.

Thank you. Sergeant-at-arms, please escort the witnesses to the Chamber.

Minister, would you please introduce your witnesses.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, on my left I have Kelly Bluck, the director of fiscal policy for the Department of Finance. And Laura Jeffrey on my right, legislative drafter in the Department of Justice.