The issue of shortages of cannabis supply in Yellowknife was a burning question in the NWT Legislative Assembly this week.
It comes after the Yellowknifer newspaper reported that there was no pot on the shelves of the uptown Liquor Shop for several days in late February.
Yellowknife North MLA Rylund Johnson brought the issue to the attention of Finance Minister Caroline Wawzonek.
“I had a constituent attend the uptown liquor store the other day – the only place to buy cannabis legally in town and there was, in fact, no cannabis there,” Johnson said in the Assembly.
Wawzonek begged to differ.
“There has actually not been very many stock outages of cannabis in the NWT since January of 2019,” she said.
The Northwest Territories Liquor and Cannabis Commission oversees the distribution of alcohol and cannabis in the territory.
It’s administered through the GNWT’s Department of Finance.
“Eighteen months after legalization, why we still not have our procurement process in order?” Johnson wanted to know.
He referred to the fact that staff from the department of finance are supposed to ensure that the supply is regular.
“I am told that the resupply did come in last Friday and that it is something that we are continuously monitoring. I met with one of the repliers just last week,” Wawzonek responded. “It is certainly our hope that, as we continue that relationship, that there should be hopefully fewer challenges for those seeking to avail themselves.”
Johnson says unless the department does a better job, the illegal cannabis market with continue to thrive.
“The issue here is that when someone attends a legal cannabis store and there is no cannabis, they go to the black market,” Johnson said.
He assured the minister that the black market for cannabis “is still very much alive and well in the Northwest Territories.”
Johnson says because of the lack of supply by the government, we are allowing criminals to continue to sell cannabis as well as not gaining the tax revenue needed from this.
Johnson questioned Wawzonek on what is currently happening to find new sources of cannabis supply that can meet the demand of the people in the NWT.
“The Northwest Territories Liquor and Cannabis Commission is tasked with identifying new suppliers, where they’re available. It is a challenge that’s being faced by our other territorial and provincial partners,” Wawzonek responded. “It’s one that we’ll continue to talk to them about their own practices and see if there are options in our procurement that we haven’t considered.”
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