Kieron Testart

All right. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I understand that customers may want the service and it's a unique service. When it was NTCL, it was a private business. It wasn't subject to the same trade requirements, shall we say. If the GNWT is directly competing in private-sector markets both domestically and internationally, it could open itself up for liability as it relates to trade rules. This is something that has been expressed to me by both private-sector actors and just my own awareness of trade deals, including the new NAFTA. Is any thought being given to those issues, as it relates to the...

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and that is what has me concerned about maintaining MTS as an in-house essential service provider. That is the stated policy objective of the purchase and how the organization is being run.

The need to find revenues to sustain the operating costs of the organization has led to the pursuit of opportunities elsewhere, but that leads the GNWT into direct competition with private sector actors, and if we are crossing international boundaries to do that, that could set up the GNWT for a whole bunch of liabilities as it relates to international trade treaties.

Has the GNWT done...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that Bill 7 be amended in the French version of that portion of subclause 6(11) preceding paragraph a) by striking out "ou de la loi equivalente au Nunavut." Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The committee would like to consider Bill 7, Chartered Professional Accountants Act; and Minister’s Statement 103-18(3), Marine Transportation Services. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

It seems like a popular product, and it seems to be flying off the shelves. Can the Minister confirm if the supply notice that was provided, at the Yellowknife store at least, if that is in fact true, that they have no more supply to offer folks in Yellowknife?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, looking at social media recently around the new Cannabis Commission and cannabis sales in the Northwest Territories, I saw an image yesterday posted on the commission's website saying, "Unfortunately, we are sold out. Product will not be available until further notice." I have received some complaints that online orders haven't shipped, and no notices have been provided to residents.

After six days, it seems like we are having issues with the operation of our Cannabis Commission. Can the Minister of Finance provide some clarity on whether or not there is...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report tabled in this House on October 11th of this year outlined grave consequences for the future of our planet if immediate action is not taken to mitigate the increasing global temperatures. This 1.5 degree Celsius increase in temperature is predicted within the next 12 years, and if nothing is done, there will be catastrophic consequences. The cost of inaction is estimated in the same report at $54 trillion by 2040, costs to the global economy.

Mr. Speaker, Northerners know all too well the...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Crown corporation is also subject to different rules than the government, as an operating entity. You know, the Minister said famously on Small Business Day, when we pressed him on questions, that the GNWT is not a business; it's up to individual businesses to come forward.

Well, as it relates to MTS, it is a business, and it's in the business of shipping. The longer there is uncertainty around the arm's-length nature of this, the more liability the GNWT potentially brings itself on from the people who feel that the government is unfairly competing in both domestic and...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Risk assessment is under way or is in progress; is that correct? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The data is old news. We have all known that this program is oversubscribed. I know the Minister said he can make the submission; will he make that submission, based on the debate we are having right now, and based on what he already knows, that this program is oversubscribed? Will the Minister make that submission? Yes or no? Thank you.