Kieron Testart

Merci, Monsieur le President. [Translation] There is a social norm that affects us all, if not in our own home then in the homes of our families and of our friends. It affects so many of us, mostly women, but not exclusively.

Mr. Speaker, we are all aware of just how complex the issue of family violence is. Even worse, the NWT has the second highest rate of family violence instances in the country. The situation here, in the NWT, is at epidemic proportions.

"Family violence" is any instance where a family member is threatening, intimidating, or using any method to illicit fear. Behaviours can...

This is a point of order, Mr. Chair. Could you call the page again with the correct total appropriation?

Thank you. After the fiscal year, the supplementary reserve, does it get rolled back into general revenues and used to correct, let's say, deficit in the infrastructure; supplementary reserve? Is that the standard practice with these funds? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. What is the impact to the supplemental reserve for operation expenditures after, should this supplementary appropriation pass? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I thank my honourable colleagues for starting the work on asking questions around the governance structure.

The deputy spoke to the need to find a self-sustaining model or self-sustaining revenue in the market before the government kind of cuts us loose and stops subsidizing it. I know that, currently, MTS is servicing communities and industrial operations outside of the Northwest Territories. Can the Minister just provide the jurisdictions where MTS is pursuing work? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Standing Committee on Government Operations is pleased to speak to our review of Bill 7: Chartered Professional Accountants Act.

Bill 7, sponsored by the Department of Finance, merges the three professional accounting bodies currently operating in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, following the lead of the three related national accounting bodies that merged in 2013. Bill 7 will repeal three existing NWT statutes and replace them with a single, new Chartered Professional Accountants Act. This bill is being coordinated with legislation in Nunavut to allow members...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That's 30 kilos of cannabis in four days or six days. Again, it seems that the demand is quite strong in the Northwest Territories, and we don't know, at this point, if it is an initial rush or if this is a market thing.

Does this new market data give confidence to the Minister that there is a viable market for cannabis in the Northwest Territories, and how does that reflect on our current regulations for private sales? Thank you.

Can the Minister advise the House on what the total cannabis sales or cannabis product sales-to-date are? Can he provide an update?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to welcome students and staff from St. Joseph’s School who are joining us today. I got to speak with them earlier. It is great to see young persons and their teachers taking an interest in our proceedings. Thank you for being here. I would also like to recognize my friend, Mr. Nathan McPherson. Thanks for being here, as well. Thank you.

Yes, I just want to use this opportunity to clarify my comments. I'm not advocating for MTS to stop doing the work it's doing or pursuing revenues. I'm saying it's an inappropriate governance model to do so.

My concern is liability and the principles of fairness and competition. I think the Minister is mischaracterizing my comments in saying, "Stop." I'm not issuing a stop work order for MTS, Mr. Chair. I am saying that, if we are going to continue to do this work, we need to do it properly.