Legislative Assembly briefs
Liquor board moves toward transparency
Sidney Cohen
Northern News Services
Friday, September 22, 2017
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The NWT Liquor Licensing Board seems to be becoming more transparent faster than the legislative assembly can keep up with.
In an email to Yellowknifer yesterday morning, liquor board spokesperson Valerie A. Daniels confirmed "The board has recently initiated actions to have all orders, licenses, permits, and reasons for decisions published; this will take some time to implement."
This email contrasts with a vague answer Finance Minister Robert C. McLeod gave Yellowknife North MLA Cory Vanthuyne Tuesday in the legislative assembly, in response to questions he had about the future of the board. McLeod said the government is working to give the board "the proper tools to make decisions ... that are transparent and maybe even published."
Written decisions of the board are already available to the public upon request.
The liquor board is an arm's-length government agency that regulates liquor sales and manufacturing in the territory and administers parts of the NWT Liquor Act. The board is currently under review by the Finance Department after receiving criticism over secrecy in the process by which members make decisions.
In the legislative assembly Tuesday, Vanthuyne said recent decisions by the board hobble local businesses and "went against, in my view, what the assembly's mandate and goals are," to support local tourism, manufacturing, and job creation.
"The Liquor Act offers the board the ability to use discretion in its decisions," said Vanthuyne.
"Legislation and policy are only as good as those who administer it."
MLAs spar over Aurora College board
Yellowknife Centre MLA Julie Green pressed the education minister this week to explain his decision in June to dismiss the Aurora College board of governors.
The move, she said, undermined the credibility of the territory's flagship post-secondary institution.
Alfred Moses fired the board in June and simultaneously appointed a single administrator, Denny Rogers.
In a statement at the time, Moses said the shakeup would ensure "stability and continuity" as the college heads into a foundational review. The review was announced in March, shortly after the government proposed cutting the college's social work and education programs as a way to rein in spending. It was originally supposed to wrap up this fall, but during question period Wednesday, Moses said the government "just signed the contract" and can't yet commit to an end date.
"They said it would be a six-to-eight month process," said Green in an interview Wednesday. "That means that it wouldn't be done until the end of the fiscal year."
Demand unknown for legal weed
The territorial government doesn't know how high demand for weed will be when it becomes legal next summer.
In the legislative assembly Wednesday, Justice Minister Louis Sebert said he has "no idea what the demand might be," but he has heard "it may be considerable."
The government's lack of information about consumer demand for cannabis concerns Kam Lake MLA Kieron Testart.
"If anyone should know what the demands are, it should be the person responsible for this project," he said. "It is pretty shocking that (the justice minister) has no clue whatsoever."
Sebert said it is tricky to gauge demand for a product that's still illegal, but went on to provide numbers from Ottawa that show the federal government is doing just that.
He said Ralph Goodale, the federal minister of public safety, told the GNWT last week the estimated value of the illegal market is between $7 and $9 billion.
Marijuana is on track to become legal in Canada next July. Rules for the substance's use and sale will be decided by individual provinces and territories.
The Ontario government has proposed cannabis be sold by the government through a subsidiary of the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (marijuana and alcohol will be sold in separate stores).
New Brunswick has signed deals with two federally licensed growers to supply cannabis to that province.
Testart said he would like the private sector to play a leading role in the NWT marijuana market.
"It's time to let Northern entrepreneurs take the lead on this file," he said.
