Iqaluit MLA wants plebiscite on proposed beer, wine store

Pat Angnakak, MLA for Iqaluit-Niaqunnguu, said the government should hold a plebiscite to decide whether to open a beer-wine store in Iqaluit. (FILE PHOTO)

The Government of Nunavut should run a plebiscite to decide whether it should open a beer and wine store in Iqaluit, Pat Angnakak, MLA for Iqaluit-Niaqunnguu, said Oct. 21.

But Keith Peterson, the minister of finance, said the government cannot commit to a plebiscite on the issue until after it finishes collecting public opinion on the matter by its Nov. 30 deadline.

“I believe we have given a timeline until the end of November, to gather as much information as possible,” Peterson told Angnakak in response to a question in the legislative assembly.

“A lot of work has to be done on this, and we have not completed that work,” Peterson said.

He also said the government must finish talking to Elections Nunavut.

“We would have to talk to Elections Nunavut about what all that entails, and I don’t want to put any pressure of timelines on what their capacity is,” Peterson said.

“So it’s too early for me to say yes or no,” he said. “But at some point, I will be able to provide that information.”

The Department of Finance, which runs the Nunavut Liquor Commission, held a public meeting on the issue Oct. 7 in Iqaluit.

Angnakak said that opinion in her constituency, and across Iqaluit, is divided into two camps.

Some agree that the retail sale of beer and wine “could be an effective way to fight bootlegging, reduce the harm caused by binge-drinking of hard liquor and address the concerns of responsible social drinkers,” Angnakak said.

“Our other constituents believe that the scale of substance abuse in the territory, and the current lack of resources to address substance abuse means that liberalizing access to alcohol would be irresponsible,” the MLA continued.

“It is essential that the choice we make is one that is based on the will of the people,” she said.

With that, Angnakak called on the government to put the question to Iqaluit’s voters, some time in the first half of 2015.