Kieron Testart

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to request a recorded vote. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Auditor General's audit of the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs found that the department failed to adequately support community governments in their delivery of essential services, and, although the department monitored community governments' provision of some of these services, it failed to ensure that these met their basic requirements, namely the health and safety of Northerners. To put it simply Mr. Speaker, the department did not do their job.

MACA has accepted all of the recommendations and committed to updating their policies and accommodate the...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Nothing further.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I do recall during the election there was lot of discussion about what to do with that facility and whether it would be extended care, whether it would be a treatment centre, those kind of options. So can we expect any further expenditure on the old facility or will that now rest with the P3 partners? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you to the Minister for being sensitive to that concern. I look forward to these documents, when they are voted on, containing the correct terminology. I appreciate that the four-plex projects are now considered Housing First. I will look forward to reviewing that as well. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Are these units being constructed for the purposes of accommodating the RCMP? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. A number of these projects are classified as affordable housing: seven units in Fort Simpson, six units in Hay River, three units in Norman Wells. Can the Minister provide a definition of affordable housing as understood by the Housing Corporation? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you again to the Minister for that. I look forward to working with this government on that issue. Finally, a more technical point: does the department or the working group currently have any recommendations on the legal age or the minimum legal age is 25 or 19 or something else, or is it too soon to make that determination? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I appreciate the Minister informing this House or keeping this House up-to-date on our federal engagement of this issue; however, my questions are more precisely about what this government's response will be to this new regime. It's not a question of should we support, it's a question of how do we manage it once the law changes. So I'm wondering what the Minister has launched or what this working group the Minister's department is a part of has launched in terms of looking at research or modelling studies here in the Northwest Territories for how this is going to work after April 2017.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you, colleagues. Mr. Speaker, this government will need to implement a prevention and public awareness strategy aimed at assuring that we keep marijuana out of the hands of children. This government will also need to consider whether or not it implements an age restriction higher than the restriction currently in place for alcohol. The OHM has recommended the minimum age be set at 25, to not inhibit brain development, and though I'm hesitant to entirely concur at this time, I look forward to the debate on how we provide least harm with the greatest opportunity...