Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today my questions are for the Minister of Finance on a different topic.
I have been advocating in the background for a more streamlined liquor licensing process for special events. So, Mr. Speaker, can the Minister tell me if a cohesive package that includes both liquor permitting and occupancy load permit processes for special events is going to be launched on the spring timeline that the Minister previously referenced last October? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Range Lake. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, so just, first of all, an occupancy load is a requirement for every event separate and apart. That is something that is issued by the fire marshal's office, and I can say the departments are working together with respect to coordinating the requirements of both. I can say online special occasion permit applications have already been launched on the eServices platform. That came about in the last year. That does allow people and parties to apply for the SOP, or the special occasion permit, more efficiently, more simply. And we are looking to move that along so that the full liquor license application process can be one of the next services offered on eServices. I'd certainly be happy to -- again, a timeline on that I don't have it here with me today. And beyond that, Mr. Speaker, there is -- as I said, there's work happening on a single application process but I wasn't able just today to get a final deadline as to when that's going to be happening, but I will certainly endeavour to do that and report it back to the House. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister tell me if her staff is working with the MACA's Office of the Fire Marshal so that frequently used venues will have an expedited process for liquor license and special events when the Liquor Act regulations package is complete. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Yes, Mr. Speaker, is the short answer. So the Department of Finance has worked with the Office of the Fire Marshal on this, but in doing so actually it's come to our attention that the fire marshal's office is looking to develop a more preestablished occupant load process across the board, not only for liquor licensing but that will benefit the liquor licensing process as well. Thank you.
Final supplementary. Member from Great Slave.
Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to both the Minister and MACA for that. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister elaborate if any other simplification of licensing and permitting under the Liquor Act is contemplated with changes to the regulations and, if so, which ones will be a simplified process compared to what it is now? Thank you.
Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. There's a couple of items I could speak to. One specifically is to try to reduce the number of times that either entities or organizations, businesses that have to frequently request, can stop having to do that on a repeated basis for when they're doing the same event every month, for example, that they can reduce having to go back almost on a continuous basis. And secondarily, and perhaps related, when there's an event happening in an already licensed premises, Mr. Speaker, we're looking to reduce having to do an existing -- or sorry, to have to come back and do a licensed occupancy load, that we can just use the load that's already known for that premises. So a couple of small changes but for the folks that require this repeatedly, Mr. Speaker, hopefully significant. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Finance. Oral questions. Member from Range Lake.
