The results of the recorded vote: 16 in favour, one opposed, one abstention. The motion is carried.

---Carried

Bill 34 has had its third reading. Third reading of bills. Mr. Clerk, orders of the day.

Masi. All those abstaining, please stand.

Masi. All those opposed, please stand.

Question has been called. All those in favour, please stand.

Masi. To the motion.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm not going to get into all the particulars of what the Members like and don't like about this bill. We've had those discussions over the last few weeks in great depth. I took the unprecedented move; I went in front of committee, myself and my staff, for six hours to discuss this thing to try to work things out and bring clarity to the Members.

As the previous speaker just said, we had the unprecedented amount of time that we spent in front of the clause-by-clause review with the public and what we spent here last night in this House. I have always said from day one, and I will repeat it again today, and I've said it to industry, I've said it to Indigenous governments, and I've said it to you guys: not everybody is going to be happy with this bill. This is very complex, probably the most important bill since devolution in 2014, and I think, even with our differences, with all Members across the floor, 11 of you, we are at a place where we've brought this thing forward and we're going to do a vote on third motion here today, and I believe this act is in the best interest of the people of the Northwest Territories.

Certainly, I can stand here and say maybe I'm not happy with certain sections, myself, and I will say that, but this is a big piece of legislation for the people of the Northwest Territories, and this is very important to us. This is the biggest part of our economy. This bill is based around investor confidence; it's based around Indigenous participation; and it's based on public input and the benefits that they are going to generate from this thing.

Yes, we've had some big differences, but as I've said, we've put those aside and we have worked very, very hard on this. I'm not complaining about being here until 11 or 12 o'clock at night. That doesn't bother me. That's what we're here to do; we're here to work. I'm not going to sit here and complain about it. It doesn't bother me that we spent this much time on it. That's what we need to do. This is a very important piece of legislation.

Even for the Members who aren't happy with it and who aren't going to support it, your input was input and made some significant changes. People do not talk about it; not one person over there has talked about 40 amendments that you guys made to this bill to make it better. Forty. That's a significant contribution to this bill, not the 32.

The other thing that I don't like about the conversation in the closing arguments today is comparing it to the Corrections Act. That is not even the same thing. That's not even close. This is a devolution bill on lands and resources that involves Indigenous governments in a serious way. So I can stand here and say Cabinet is very supportive of this bill, and a number of people on that side, and I think we're doing the right things for the residents of the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. To the motion. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate everybody sharing their comments today. It just goes to show the importance of this bill. I want to not reiterate everybody's concerns, but I do want to say that, with well over 100 motions, I had the opportunity, as the chair, to observe the growth of this process and of this bill, from the time in which it was originally proposed, and I can tell you that, when we saw that originally, there was a lot of deep and dire concern from committee at that time.

There has been a willingness from the Minister and the department to come together with the committee on a few occasions to recognize that there was some serious and important work that needed to be done to get this bill to a place that it needed to be.

I also want to take this opportunity, Mr. Speaker, to commend the many stakeholders that took part in getting this bill where it is today. Most important are our Indigenous governments and organizations and, of course, industry. I think their ability to be patient with us and to understand and have an understanding is very admirable and committee, I think, really, genuinely appreciates that.

I want to acknowledge my committee's frustration; they have shared that over the last number of days. As the chair, I have the opportunity to see the peaks and valleys of this bill as we have moved forward, but I want to also commend the committee for the tremendous effort that they have put into getting this bill to where it is and exposing those challenges that we've had, and digging down, and going into the depths of this, and never relenting, and continuing to pound forward. I mean, I think, clearly, at points in time we were ready to just throw our arms up in the air and kind of give up, but the proof is, when you sit here until 11:30 at night in a clause-by-clause, and again until after midnight the other day in Committee of the Whole, there is genuine effort that has been put into this bill.

I, Mr. Speaker, think that that's too much at risk to not support now. I think the work that we've done, that everybody has done, is to be commended, and it would be too risky to let all of that go to a future Assembly. So, Mr. Speaker, I will for sure be in support of the act. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. To the motion. Member for Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am in favour of this motion. Ever since we inherited devolution, I feel very comfortable in saying that we have something. As a result of that, we have the abilities in the agreement to govern our destiny and manage our affairs and exploit our affairs in a manner that we see is responsible.

As mentioned numerous times in our road trips for this piece of legislation, we live in a very diverse area with a number of jurisdictions, including reserves, settled claims, unsettled claim areas. Making choices and making decisions is the hardest part of leadership, but making them shows leadership. Our people have placed us in this Assembly to do just that.

This new piece of legislation goes back to the recommendation from the Neil McCrank report on upgrading legislation and regulations. I am very confident that the government has the resources and the necessary staff to direct them in that manner.

I really want to show to the people that we are here, and to industry, that we have heard everyone during the road reports during the development, during the "what we heard" report that was tabled by the government a year ago, and that we are doing our best to engage, listen, and design a piece of legislation that would create, as we mentioned numerous times, certainty and confidence in industry's interest to have a presence here in our territory and the large amount of benefits that they bring.

I feel comfortable that we have drafted a piece of legislation. In some views, it may not be the best, and that could be said for every piece of legislation that we have dealt with, but in the spirit of balance and comfort and certainty, I am satisfied with what we have drafted, and we will leave it up to the staff of the government to draft regulations to accommodate the legislation and basically try to bring commerce and stability to our area. Mahsi.