Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask a question of the Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources. I know the Minister has encouraged meetings to take place with aboriginal leaders to discuss their position on the northern accord, and I believe the Minister participated in those meetings this morning. I would like to ask the Minister, how are things going. Thank you.

--- Laughter

Mr. Speaker, some of you may not be aware of the efforts of a modest man who quietly monitors our operations in the interests of organized labour in the public sector in the Northwest Territories. He has very humbly moved his seat so he's not quite as visible to me as usual. But he's still here today, I believe, hiding: Mr. Ben MacDonald of the Union of Northern Workers. Thank you.

--- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier this week I described my experience in my constituency with the federal firearms control task force as one of the most cynical efforts at manipulation I've ever seen in all my years of service as an MLA. Today I would like to elaborate on why I would use such strong language.

Most people who communicate across a language and cultural barrier understand that special sensitivity is required. It's not enough to engage the services of an interpreter; one must speak in language the interpreter can understand, especially when describing complex legislation.

The Members of the federal firearms task force who came to my community could not speak plain English. I wrote down a typical, painful example. The Ottawa visitors were asked by my constituents why experienced hunters should have to take gun safety courses. The Ottawa bureaucrats, in reply, tried to ask my constituents whether they could suggest another way to recognize the skills of experienced hunters other than by making them take a course. Here is how the bureaucrat asked the question of a unilingual member of the Amarok HTA, "is there a non-invasive way of validating their competence?". Mr. Speaker, this is not plain language. This is bureaucratic gobbledegook.

Unless issues like compulsory registration, lending and licence requirements are dealt with, Bill C-68 is quite clearly a substantial infringement of the aboriginal right to hunt. The Supreme Court of Canada has clearly ruled in the Sparrow case that the rights of aboriginal peoples in Canada cannot be infringed by a government. In the rare case where infringement of an aboriginal right may be justified, the court said that there must first be meaningful consultation with the aboriginal people involved.

I want to say as clearly as possible to the federal Justice Minister Allan Rock and to any judge who in future may be asked to consider this issue, that I believe the records of this Assembly, statements of many of my colleagues about the lack of notice, the rushed timetable, the poor presentation and communication, clearly establishes that on Bill C-68 my constituents have not been meaningfully consulted by the federal government. I say they haven't been consulted at all. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Chairman, the Clerk's answer leads me to believe that it could not be easily done and that, in fact, if we use the Plebiscite Act we'd have to perhaps have two enumerations: one for three-year residents and one for the lesser requirements of the territorial election. I'm not convinced that there's an easy mechanism to do this.

The other point I would like to make is that I'm not sure that it's fair to dump this issue on the Executive Council, they have weighty matters to consider enough. I think this is the kind of issue that should be dealt with in the Assembly. I think we should be prepared to voice our opinions here today. I would like to say, on balance and with no disrespect for the opinion that exists, the drinking age should be increased. On balance, I'm quite confident that the majority of my constituents would not see this as something that would help problems with alcohol in the community.

As the committee has recommended, encouraging people to learn about alcohol, its dangers and encouraging young people to become aware of the risks and the responsibilities associated with drinking, to me, would be more effective. I fear, in fact, that raising the drinking age would just drive the problem underground to a significant extent. I think young people in the north are now aware, as well, that they are part of a country that ... They're widely travelled and they understand that they are part of a great country. We would certainly be, if we moved in this direction, be setting up a category of drinking rights for our young people that is quite different from just across the border, for example, in Alberta, in the Member's own riding. I'm not sure that that kind of variation is going to be helpful nor would it be welcome by young people in the Northwest Territories. I think I know how they'd react if we were to make this move.

Mr. Chairman, on balance, I'm prepared to respect the committee's considered recommendations on this one. It's a difficult question, whatever we do won't please everybody, but I'm inclined to go along with the recommendations of the committee. I know the committee worked hard and heard witnesses from all across the territories. That's the thing, the committee didn't make a recommendation so it's going to stay the way it is. The Member's motion would have this issue put to the people with the recommendation that the voting age increase. I shouldn't call it a committee's recommendation but I'm prepared to go along with the committee's conclusion that raising the drinking age would only create other social problems; that they'll experiment with illegal drugs and non-beverage alcohol and therefore rather than raise the drinking age and rather than put the question of raising the drinking age to the public, we should concentrate our efforts on public education campaigns.

The bottom line is, after some consideration, I am going to vote against the motion. Thank you.

He knows the answer.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I have great respect for the opinions of the Member for Thebacha, but I also know that the committee, whose report we are debating, considered this issue at some length and is representative of constituencies from all across the territories. I just want to say that I believe this is a difficult question because like many of the issues that face us as legislators, there are advantages and disadvantages to raising the drinking age.

One of the advantages is that it may prevent some young people from starting drinking when they aren't quite ready to handle that responsibility. It may help reduce some of the problems that we see among some young people who have alcohol problems. I am not unaware of the problems that young people have with alcohol, whether they are 19 or not. However, Mr. Chairman, the other side of it is that if the drinking age is raised, then it becomes the forbidden fruit and there may well be a tendency for people to resort to illegal means to obtain liquor, exposing themselves to getting into legal trouble or they may resort to other non-legal abuses like drugs.

Mr. Chairman, I am sure that my constituency has opinions on both sides. I suspect that elders in my constituency may feel that raising the drinking age might diminish the alcohol problem, but there are probably many younger people in my constituency who feel that since they have the right to vote, the right to join the army and defend their country, they should have some of the privileges that are associated with those rights as well.

So, Mr. Chairman, I don't think this is a simple question. I suppose that is why the Member is suggesting it be put to a territorial vote in conjunction with the forthcoming election. The first question I would like to ask, Mr. Chairman, is -- and maybe the legal advisor or the Clerk could assist -- is there a mechanism to put a question like this on the territorial election ballot if we should approve this motion? I know there is a Plebiscite Act that allows us to have a plebiscite on any question, but those have traditionally been stand-alone plebiscites. I think the last one cost almost $750,000. So I guess before we vote, I would like to ask if someone could enlighten the committee; is there a way to do what Mrs. Marie-Jewell suggests be done; that is, add a question to the ballot in the forthcoming territorial election. So in addition to electing your local MLA, you would be giving an opinion on the drinking age. Is there a way of doing that under the present Election Act? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to give notice that on Thursday, June 8th, I will move the following motion, seconded by Mr. Ballantyne, MLA for Yellowknife North.

I move, seconded by the MLA for Yellowknife North, that this Legislative Assembly endorses and supports the commencement of negotiations to transfer prosecutions from the Government of Canada to the Government of the Northwest Territories provided that the transfer does not prejudice any negotiations in the Northwest Territories on aboriginal self-government. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a written question for the Minister of Safety and Public Services regarding taxes on imported liquor.

1. What is the basis for the calculation of taxes on liquor imported to the Northwest Territories?

2. Is alcohol content considered in calculating the rate of tax on imported liquor?

3. Why is it that beer, with about half the alcohol content of wine, is taxed at about one-tenth the rate of wine?

4. Why is it that spirits, with at least four times the alcohol content of wine, attract a tax of only $1.75 more per litre?

5. Has the Minister considered the relative health impacts of various categories of liquor in devising a regime for taxes on the importation of liquor?

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to thank the Minister for using his good offices to arrange this meeting and to include Baffin representatives. The Minister is

well aware that last year at this time, when turbot quotas were divided up, NWT applicants only got about 10 per cent of what was allowed in the waters adjacent to Baffin Island. I would like to ask the Minister, is he optimistic after his meetings and discussions and correspondence with Mr. Tobin that this year we'll do significantly better than the 10 per cent we were allocated over Maritime companies last year. Thank you.