Legislative Assembly briefs
Justice to look for feedback on tougher pot laws
Kirsten Fenn
Northern News Services
Friday, June 9, 2017
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The justice department plans to kick off online consultations on cannabis legalization by the end of June before hosting public meetings in seven regional centres and two small communities in September.
Officials are looking for feedback on possibly increasing the federal age limit for cannabis consumption above the age of 18, and reducing the federal carry and home-growth limits, according to Mark Aitken, assistant deputy minister for the justice department.
"The most pressing legislative and operational challenge facing the NWT ... is how to establish a secure, effective and accessible regime for the distribution and sale of cannabis," he said.
Aitken outlined different distribution and taxation models in a presentation to the Standing Committee on Priorities and Planning on Wednesday at the legislative assembly.
They include adopting something similar to the Liquor Commission, where sales are controlled by government, or restricting sales to licensed retailers.
Frame Lake MLA Kevin O'Reilly wanted to know how the GNWT plans to deal with taxation to ensure it captures revenue from mail orders. Kelly Bluck, director of fiscal policy for the finance department, said the GNWT shouldn't tax too high off the bat, "otherwise we'll be back into the black market situation."
Another concern is preventing youth access to cannabis by ensuring mail orders are not sent to people who are underage.
Sahtu MLA Daniel McNeely also raised questions about how jurisdictions like the Deline Got'ine Government will be able to govern cannabis policy.
"They may have the ability to override our government," suggested Justice Minister Sebert, although he didn't think they would be able to override federal rules.
Aitken said the government's cannabis working group is aware of the issue but didn't think any decision had been made.
Federal marijuana legislation is expected to take effect next July. The GNWT plans to have a legislative proposal ready in October.
Elections report suggests changes to financial law
The NWT's chief electoral officer made a number of recommendations to relax some election laws during a meeting with a standing committee of MLAs on Wednesday.
In a report on modernizing election administration, Chief Electoral Officer Nicole Latour suggested the government do away with requiring candidates to provide statements from banks in their candidate financial reports.
Her rationale is that more than a quarter of NWT communities do not have a chartered bank or institution where candidates can acquire the statements.
"Unopened bank accounts and missing or late statements are the leading cause of delayed or unfiled Candidate Financial Reports," Latour's recommendation states.
"It's a struggle to get the reports in the most accurate and complete way," she told the committee. "Our office spends a lot of time asking questions, completing the candidate financial reports, bothering the candidates and the official agents for the paperwork."
Latour suggested having candidate financial reports certified by a designated accounting official of some kind and reimburse candidates later for the cost.
Nahendeh MLA Shane Thompson said there may not be a chartered accountant in every community and wondered if this would add another barrier.
Latour's report also recommends increasing penalties for failing to file candidate financial reports from $250 to $5,000, or to "have the penalty accrue at $50 for each day the contravention continues, to a maximum of $10,000."
The final recommendation is to change the term for returning officers to a lifetime appointment. Currently, terms expire every four years, Latour said.
After the 2015 territorial election, Yellowknifer reported about one-third of the 60 candidates failed to meet the expense reporting deadlines, a figure Latour believed to be unprecedented at the time.
In January, two candidates - Arnold Hope and Dennis Nelner - and one candidate agent - Gaylene Moses - were charged with criminal code offenses related to the filing of their financial reports in January.
MLAs say much room for improvement
The GNWT is making "considerable" progress in meeting its mandate commitments, although a committee of MLAs says there is much room for improvement.
A report released last week in the legislative assembly gave 21 of the GNWT's commitments a good rating. Another 67 were rated acceptable, 49 were rated poor and three were given a failing grade.
One of the failures rested with the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment for developing a long-term strategy to attract oil and gas development to the NWT.
"Funding has been reduced to public service capacity relating to petroleum resources, which limits the territory's ability to advance project readiness or to respond when oil prices recover," states the report.
Members were also disappointed with progress on reducing taxes on small businesses. The report says the finance department is conducting research, although no progress is indicated on the GNWT's mandate tracking website.
It also criticizes the GNWT for not including individual shelters in its work to address their needs. On the other side of the spectrum, the government was rated well for its work on advancing transportation infrastructure such as the Mackenzie Valley Highway and all-season roads.
MLAs gave the government a thumbs-up when it came to making land available for affordable housing, supporting RCMP with policing action plans and increasing cabinet's accessibility by organizing meetings in different regions.
