Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the committee that the honourable Member refers to was chaired by the chief mining inspector. There was a perception on the part of both workers and industry that it was essentially inappropriate that the government should have, through its chief mining inspector, such a strong involvement in the formulation of the review of a bill which had been developed inhouse by the government itself. When I began to look at the need to develop a new mining safety bill, it became quite clear to me that one of the reasons why the consultation process hither to had been condemned by a number of parties was that there was the perception that it was being done "too close to the chest," as it were. The government was, in effect, asking one of its own senior employees to chair a committee reviewing a bill that has been developed by that same department. So I determined that a better way of developing a more credible process, which I then hoped would result in participation and co-operation of all stakeholders, would be to remove the government as chair of the committee and instead install an independent chairperson with no particular axe to grind, credible to all parties and credible to the government. That approach was well received when I consulted with industry and labour before I made the announcement in this House, and I still think that principle is an acceptable approach. Thank you.
Dennis Patterson on Question O121-12(2): Purpose Of Mining Safety Committee
In the Legislative Assembly on February 21st, 1992. See this statement in context.
Return To Question O121-12(2): Purpose Of Mining Safety Committee
Question O121-12(2): Purpose Of Mining Safety Committee
Item 5: Oral Questions
February 20th, 1992
Page 96
Dennis Patterson Iqaluit
See context to find out what was said next.