 | Home page |  | Text size |  | E-mail this page |
MLAs pass changes to liquor act Amendments could lead to liquor stores opening in Nunavut
Miranda Scotland
Northern News Services
Published Monday, September 23, 2013
NUNAVUT
Recent changes to the liquor act could lead to the creation of government-run liquor stores in Nunavut.
However, the plan is to take a "measured approach" and consult with communities along the way, said Keith Peterson, finance minister and minister responsible for the Liquor Licensing Board.
Residents will get a say in decisions about location, hours of operation, product availability, limits to quantities, and policies to reduce potential harm, he said.
Also, various government departments will be brought together to determine what impacts a store could have on any potential community.
Once support is received, an outlet would be setup on a pilot basis and it could be shut down if problems arise, he said.
"This ability to change how we sell liquor in Nunavut will be the foundation for reducing harm and for removing the bootlegging market," said Peterson.
MLAs voted on the proposed amendments to Bill 64 in the legislative assembly Sept. 17.
The act to amend the liquor act passed in a 13-5 vote.
Other changes laid out in the act, will allow residents to bring three litres of spirits, nine litres of wine or 26 litres of beer into the territory without a liquor import permit.
Before people were only allowed 1,140 ml of spirits or wine or twelve 355 ml containers of beer.
Other changes laid out in the act, will allow residents to bring larger volumes of alcohol into the territory without a liquor import permit.
That said, residents going to restricted communities will still need permission from the alcohol education committees to import liquor, said Peterson.
Also, under the amended act there will be increased fines for bootlegging with the new maximum being $100,000.
Plus there will be more emphasis put on social responsibility.
"We would be using funds from the revolving fund to educate people about the dangers of alcohol and the responsible use of alcohol wherever they live in Nunavut, whether it's a restricted community or a prohibited community or a wet community," stated Peterson.
Nonetheless, some MLAs feel the added education won't mitigate the effects of the increased access to liquor.
MLA Tagak Curley said he expects the changes will result in increased crime related to liquor.
"There's going to be more people bootlegging because they don't have to order liquor from Winnipeg, say, or Ottawa," said Curley.
"They can take it from my community to other communities and sell it, and make money."
MLA Johnny Ningeongan also took issue with the changes, saying the government ignored the standing committees concerns about Bill 64.
The members noted problems with the government's plans for a beer and wine store pilot project and questioned how public consent would be obtained for such an endeavor.
They were also disappointed to find the changes did not address the idea of introducing civil forfeiture legislation.
Also, the allocation of funds for social responsibility campaigns are not mandatory.
The voices of Nunavummiut have been ignored, said Ningeongan.
"The people were visited by the task force. They identified what they wanted and now this government is saying the exact opposite. If the government is going to do that to their people, it's not going to be very good in the future."
Meanwhile, MLA John Ningark, who was on the Nunavut Liquor Act Review task force, supported the bill because, he said, it's better than doing nothing.
"At least that's something we can do for the time being," he said. "Other leadership, perhaps, will have better remedies to deal with this relentless abuse of alcohol, not only in Nunavut, but any territory in the country and in the world. What can we do? We can at least try to deal with the problem of alcohol."
| 
