Louis Sebert

Well, it is rather hard to determine what the demand and supply is of an illegal product. I do not know how we will determine that, but I will say that Federal Minister Goodale in speaking to us at the FPT last week estimated that the illegal market in Canada was somewhere between $7 and $9 billion, so I think we can anticipate that the market is significant throughout the country and, perhaps, no less per capita here than elsewhere.

Mr. Speaker, as this House will know, public meetings have been held in I think nine communities. The last public hearing was today. I understand there is a wide variety of concerns being expressed. Of course, production of cannabis will be licensed by the federal government under the Cannabis Act. That is the proposed legislation. Thank you.

I'm not sure of the financial situation or otherwise of Virdi Power. Clearly, we have made apparent to them our grave concerns about this matter and we also retained, apart from legal counsel which I mentioned earlier, an independent quality control inspector to provide progress reports. Progress is slow and, frankly, Virdi Power is way behind in delivery.

Mr. Speaker, the generators are not in place. As I understand it they are still in California. We are hoping that at least three of the five generators will be delivered in the near future. I will certainly keep this House advised as to progress in this matter. I believe we have retained or spoken to legal counsel in the State of California to determine our rights with respect to this matter, but we are hoping to get delivery, as I say, of three of the five generators. Thank you.

The department is always learning from its experiences, and our strongest desire is to have voluntary compliance with our laws and regulations. We only go to court as a last result if all the measures have failed.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can advise this House that currently there is no injunction in place because the Nahanni Butte Dene Band has stopped work voluntarily. The Government of the Northwest Territories did initially file an application for an injunction, but the matter was removed from the court docket by mutual consent and on the understanding that the band would not conduct any further work without a land use permit issued by the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board.

The matter may be brought back to court to get an injunction if the band begins work without the necessary permits in place...

Mr. Speaker, as mentioned previously, there have been a series of public meetings and in addition to that as I mentioned yesterday approximately 1,100 online responses. We will soon be coming up with a "what we heard" document, so we will have some idea of what the public's opinion is with respect to this important issue. I look forward to working with all Members of this House with respect to moving forward with this change in our law and how we are going to be dealing with the retail and distribution end for this product. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

No, I have no idea what the demand might be, but I have heard that it may be considerable. We have not yet entered into any sort of an agreement, or even contemplated agreements yet with possible suppliers who, of course, must be licensed by the federal government.

We're always pleased to appear in front of committee. Of course, Members will know that the Power Corporation doesn't fall under normal business plans as it's overseen by the Public Utilities Board, so that's where they appear in front of, but to provide more information with respect to these or other matters, I'd always be very happy to appear in front of committee. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As I mentioned, we are hoping still to get delivery of the three of five generators. With respect to legal action, we understand from our counsel in California that that would be exceedingly complex if we had to take that route; there may be other parties that could have priority. We are still hoping to get delivery of these generators. As I say, we are hoping to get at least three of the five in the near future. If we don't get those and we cannot pursue legal action in the State of California, which as I say may be very, very difficult, we will have to re-tender.