Kieron Testart

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The nice thing about revenue neutral tax that puts money back into people's pockets is that they can pay for fuel at the pump, which right now is increasingly getting out of reach as our cost of living continues to climb. My final question for the Premier is: how is he working with our Indigenous government partners beyond this consultative effort? How is he working directly with them to ensure that their interests are respected in this process? Can we get an answer to that? Thank you.

I do read the newspaper, and so do my constituents. When they see what is going on with this issue, they are concerned. They want to know what the government plans to do. I appreciate that the Premier has laid out his responsibilities very clearly, and I applaud him for that, but what I asked him for was a clear vision. Is it going to be a revenue neutral option, or are we going to see a revenue grab for government to fund clean growth? We need some certainty here that it is not going to unduly impact our economy and take money out of the pockets of Northerners. Can the Premier at least give...

Mr. Speaker, this summer the North American Indigenous Games were held in Toronto, and the Northwest Territories was well represented by so many talented young athletes. I want to acknowledge my constituent Deanne Whenham for winning the gold medal in 17 and Under Female Golf.

Ms. Whenham is a true athlete, and in addition to this year's games she has represented the Northwest Territories at the 2014 North American Indigenous Games, 2015 Canada Winter Games, and 2016 Arctic Winter Games. Honourable Members, please join me in congratulating Ms. Whenham and all the athletes, coaches, and...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate again where my honourable friend is coming from on this one, to create a service as an interim measure, so I guess I cannot ask this question directly. I will just include it in the debate.

It would be lovely if a member of the government's side could offer some clarity on their position on this issue and whether or not they have contemplated the regulatory issue that I have raised earlier today. Apart from that, I have nothing further for the honourable Member, and I am pleased to support his bill. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate how this bill was designed and the problem it is trying to solve. I think it is important that we offer low-cost funeral services for Northerners, but there are some technical questions I would like to ask the honourable Member who is sponsoring this bill.

In the current version of the Public Health Act, it would appear that there is authority to regulate funeral services and the disposal of human bodies. Now, this bill corrects that by being explicit and brings more clarity to the act of cremations, but what is missing from this bill seems to be that it...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I know this bill and many like it are very technical in nature and contain a lot of legal matters that are significant for how governments operate and how the legal community operates.

I think most average readers can understand what the Minister laid out for the changes, what this bill does, in his opening comments, except for one, which is the Carltona doctrine. I raised this in the review of the standing committee. I understand it now, but I'm hoping, for our listeners to these proceedings and for the future of our Hansard document, that the Minister can properly define...

I do not want to impose anything. I want to implement a carbon tax that is going to reduce our emissions, protect our environment, and support our clean growth economy. The Premier wants to do that, too. He signed the same declaration. I am glad we have the model, and I am glad we have all this information, but are we going to be able to implement all this information by the deadline in 2018? It is fast approaching, and we are still in the middle of the second round of consultations. Could the Premier provide some clarity on that? Are we going to hit our deadlines?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Premier if he can provide some clarity on his position towards carbon pricing. He has both made statements that he is supportive of the Pan-Canadian framework, and also that he is seeking an exemption. For those people who do not want that tax, that is a confusing message. Can the Premier clearly lay out his vision for a made-in-the-North carbon tax? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, again, New Brunswick seems to be able to do it. Ontario seems to be able to do it. They have fully informed plans, and they are already making the plans. We still do not have answers. Again, instead of suggesting what our demand may be and how some of these features are going to work that are not being contemplated by the round of consultations which we now concluded, will the Minister do some work on this area and report back to the House so people can have certainty about what the economic opportunities are going to be for this product, and how Northerners are...

Well, given that reality, in New Brunswick they have negotiated for nine million grams of cannabis for their province. Does the Minister have an idea of what the supply demands would be in the Northwest Territories and is he working to secure a supply with the distributor?