Kieron Testart

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.

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, it is good to see that we have gotten into a discussion around ITI's available funding for entrepreneurs. I want to talk about the SEED program.

The Minister has spoken about increasing the funding criteria for entrepreneurs, but the Minister didn't actually make more funding dollars available, which means that the complete allocation is being spent, but fewer businesses are receiving funding. In fact, the funding for agriculture, film, and manufacturing strategies have been taking it out of the SEED program. They don't represent new funding. When is the...