Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that on Wednesday, March 25, 1992, 1 shall move that Bill 27, Wildlife Conservation Act, be read for the first time. Thank you.

Notices of motions for first reading of bills. Item 15, motions. Mr. Koe.

(Translation) Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to move Motion 8-12(2), Extended Adjournment of the House.

The Member is seeking unanimous consent to deal with this motion. Are there any nays? There are no nays, proceed, Mr. Koe.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Aivilik, that when the House adjourns on March 12, 1992, it shall stand adjourned until March 24, 1992.

Your motion is in order, Mr. Koe. To the motion.

Question.

Question is being called. All those in favour? Opposed, if any? The motion is carried.

--- Carried

--- Applause

Motions. Item 16, first reading of bills. Mr. Pollard.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Nunakput, that Bill 25, Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 3, 1991-92, be read for the first time.

Your motion is in order. All those in favour? Opposed, if any? The motion is carried.

--- Carried

Bill 25 has had first reading. Item 17, second reading of bills. Mr. Pollard.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Natilikmiot, that Bill 24, An Act to Amend the Financial Administration Act, No. 2, be read for the second time. Mr. Speaker, this bill would amend the Financial Administration Act to provide that no person shall incur an expenditure that causes the amount of the item set out in the estimates on which the appropriation is based, to be exceeded; to provide that a deputy minister shall take all reasonable measures to ensure that an activity budget is not exceeded and to provide for reports to the Minister of Finance, the Financial Management Board and the Legislative Assembly, where an activity budget is exceeded.

Mr. Pollard, your motion is in order. To the principle of the bill.

Question.

Question is being called. All those in favour? Opposed, if any? The motion is carried.

--- Carried

Bill 24 has had second reading and accordingly the bill stands referred to a committee. Second reading of bills. Item 18, consideration in committee of the whole of bills and other matters: Tabled Document 9-12(2), Strength at Two Levels;

Tabled Document 10-12(2), Reshaping Northern Government; Tabled Document 12-12(2), Plebiscite Direction; Bill 14, Appropriation Act No. 1, 1992-93; Committee Report 3-12(2), Standing Committee on Finance Review of the 1992-93 Capital Estimates; Motion 6-12(2), Discussion on Sobriety Clause in Contribution Agreements; Bill 21, Supplementary Appropriation Act No. 3, 1990-91; Bill 15, Official Languages Act, with Mr. Pudluk in the chair.

Will the committee come to order. There was a request from the Minister to deal with the Act to Amend the Official Languages Act. Does this House agree that we deal with Bill 15?

We just checked the Hansard. That motion was passed. It was voted on and passed. Does this committee wish to deal with Bill 15? Agreed?

Agreed.

--- Agreed

Mr. Patterson, do you wish to make opening remarks?

Minister's Opening Remarks

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the Act to Amend the Official Languages Act would amend the Official Languages Act to extend the deadline for the translation into French of rules, orders, regulations, by-laws, and proclamations made in English alone before December 31, 1989. The deadline would be shifted from March 31, 1992 to December 31, 1992, the amendment proposes.

I wish to provide an explanation to the committee of the developments that have led to this legislative initiative. Since December 31, 1989, all new statutes and regulations of the Northwest Territories have been made in both English and French. The government has, however, unfortunately experienced some difficulty with the requirement in the Official Languages Act that requires all statutes, rules, orders and regulations made before December 31, 1989 to be translated into French. The deadline for the completion of this process was earlier set at December 31, 1990. An amendment to the territorial Official Languages Act and a concurrent federal amendment to the Northwest Territories Act served to extend this deadline to March 31, 1992. In the period since December 31, 1990, the Northwest Territories has made significant progress toward fulfilling the requirements and objectives of the Official Languages Act. In July 1991, the four main and the first two supplemental volumes of the Revised Statutes of the Northwest Territories 1988 were tabled in the Legislative Assembly and brought into force, In December 1991, the third and final volume of the supplement was brought into force. The bringing into force of this volume was the culmination of the statutory revision and translation project that resulted in the translation of approximately 4000 pages of statutory text. So all of the statutes of the Northwest Territories are now in both English and French, and since December 31, 1989, all new regulations have been made in both English and French.

The statutory translation process did, of course, take precedence, but the legislation division of the Department of Justice has been making a concerted effort to complete the translation of regulations and orders made before December 31, 1989, so that all the legislation of the Northwest Territories will be in English and French. It will not be possible to complete this process before March 31, 1992, and hence the necessity for the present bill.

There will be three main volumes of the Revised Regulations of the Northwest Territories 1990, and one supplemental volume. The first volume of approximately 800 pages has already gone to print. The second volume will likely be sent to the printer within two weeks. The third and final main volume should go to print in April. It is reasonable to expect that all volumes of the Revised Regulations 1990, including the supplement, could be in force, if all goes well, by the end of June.

The Members may have some question as to what would result if the present March 31, 1992 deadline in the Official Languages Act expires without an extension. The consequences would, I regret, be serious. All regulations and orders not presently in both English and French would have no force and effect. As Members are aware, regulations and orders do represent the great preponderance of subordinate legislation in the Territories. Without being overly dramatic, it is worth noting the various worker safety regulations would be unenforceable, as would community approved liquor prohibition and restriction regimes. The ability of the government to pay social assistance could be called into question if the social assistance regulations cease to have effect, and the income tax regulations could fall. These are just examples, but I can assure you that it will be serious if 2400 pages of territorial legislation ceased to have effect by the end of this month.

Members may be aware that it is not enough for the NWT to amend its Official Language Act. The federal Northwest Territories Act contains a provision that any amendment to our Official Languages Act must be concurred with through an amendment to the NWT Act in order for our amendment to be valid.

I am pleased to report that the federal Cabinet has approved a proposal to introduce such an amendment to the NWT Act. The federal government has recognized that the NWT has given its best effort to complete a difficult translation and reenactment process and they realize that the end of the process is very near. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will be pleased to answer the questions of the committee.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Would the chairman of the legislation committee like to make a few remarks? Mr. Arngna'naaq.

Comments From The Standing Committee On Legislation

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The standing committee on legislation has completed the review of Bill 15. This bill would change the date for translation and publication regulations and other statutory instruments, as the Minister has indicated. Presently, the French translation has to be completed by March 31, 1992 and this bill would change the date to December 31, 1992.

The standing committee considered this bill at a public meeting held in Yellowknife on Thursday, March 12th. The Members of the committee were grateful to the Minister of Justice, the Hon. Dennis Patterson and his officials for attending to summarize the bill and respond to committee questions and concerns.

The standing committee also reviewed written input and a public presentation from the Federation Franco-Te Noise on the bill.

Mr. Chairman, in undertaking our review the standing committee on legislation was aware that subsections 15(2) and 15(3) of the Official Languages Act deal with statutes and statutory instruments that were made before December 31, 1989. Right now, the law states that these articles must be translated into French before April 1, 1992. The translation of statutory instruments has not yet been completed. If they are not translated by April 1st then we may find that NWT regulations have no force or effect.

The Minister of Justice has now advised the standing committee that it will be unable to complete translation and publication requirements by this day. As a result, he has brought forward Bill 15 to amend the deadline to December 31, 1992.

The standing committee also noted that amending the territorial Official Languages Act is only the first step to actually changing the deadline for French translations. The Parliament of Canada must also amend the NWT Act in order to concur with the new date.

In our discussions with the Minister the standing committee expressed concern over the fact that this is not the first time the deadline has needed to be adjusted. In each previous case the government indicated that the specified time period would be sufficient for completion of the task and in each case more time has been needed.

According to the brief and the presentations submitted to the standing committee, this had led to justifiable frustration from the Francophone community. They emphasized and I quote, "A bill tabled by the Minister of Justice to the standing committee on legislation of the NWT is an affront to our community. If this bill is approved it will constitute the fourth delay in implementing legislation dealing with fundamental human rights."

Mr. Chairman, I would like to quote further from the brief received from the federation which also commented, "We feel that our community should not suffer yet again from the fact that certain civil servants do not live up to their commitments. We ask the Government of the NWT that the deadline be June 30, 1992 rather than December 31, 1992."

Mr. Chairman, the standing committee agreed that this request was entirely reasonable, particularly since the Minister had earlier indicated that work on the translation of the remaining statutory instruments was nearing completion. Accordingly, at its March 12th meeting the standing committee on legislation passed a motion to amend the deadline on Bill 15 to June 30, 1992. Within the new format for legislative review adopted by this House it is possible for amendments to be made while the bill is before the standing committee, with the concurrence of the bill's sponsor. When this happens the amendments would be agreed to by consensus and a reprinted bill would be brought back to the House for consideration in committee of the whole.

In this case, Mr. Chairman, the Minister declined to concur with the standing committee's motion to amend the deadline to June 30, 1992. In responding to the standing committee motion, he indicated that the technical requirements for publication and printing of the translated regulations would require an additional allocation of time. Because the Minister did not concur with the committee's proposed amendment, Mr. Chairman, this bill is now before the committee of the whole without amendments. That is the bill which honourable Members see before them today, the same one which was given second reading on February 24, 1992. However, I anticipate that the House may wish to consider amendments to the proposed deadline when it is dealing with Bill 15 in committee of the whole this afternoon.

Mr. Chairman, before I proceed, I also wish to note that the standing committee remains sensitive to the fact that official languages spoken by the aboriginal people of the NWT must be considered a priority, as well. With that background to our deliberations, Mr. Chairman, I wish to advise you that on March 12th the standing committee on legislation voted to refer Bill 15 to the Legislative Assembly for consideration in committee of the whole. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you. General comments. Mr. Nerysoo.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to make a couple of general comments before we proceed into clause by clause review. The last couple of days people have wondered why I have been quite annoyed about some of the procedural stuff that has been going on, and that is basically what they have been, because I think that people have to understand that Members cannot be taken for granted, even if emergency issues like this arise in this Assembly. There is a need to convince Members as to the nature and the reasons why changes to legislation, in the interest of government, are required.

I have had an opportunity to sit on that side of the House as Minister of Justice like my colleague who made the presentation of this legislation. I think what I have found in the last couple of meetings we have held as a standing committee is that we were convinced quite articulately by the Minister of the importance of the amendments. But I was not convinced about the time because if it was so important to proceed with an amendment at this particular late date, surely government should have known earlier that we were in trouble with regard to these pieces of legislation. I am quite sure that the government and the Minister would confirm that they probably knew in November and December and January that we were in trouble.

So I think that when we deal with these kinds of matters and notice of a requirement of this type is going to occur, I think it is a matter of courtesy that the appropriate chairpersons or standing committees are given notice that this may happen. I was not, and I am going to be very blunt and honest to Members here, that I was not prepared today to proceed with the proposed amendment. I think that it is important, again, because it seems that as an aboriginal person we are always trying to respond to the needs of others, despite the fact that they may be legitimate, and I think that the government, and I think legitimately, has to be responsible for addressing the matters that have been identified in past agreements; and obligations that they have signed their names to, we have to live up to. I think that is important.

But we also have to take the view that we have to ensure that those commitments we have made are reflected to all the people that are included in that agreement and in that legislation. I think we have a long way to go, particularly as it applies in some respects to some of the aboriginal communities. I think that having been given good counsel, I guess, by my colleague for High Arctic, Mr. Pudluk, that it is probably, as Mr. Arngna'naaq has pointed out, a request of urgency, but noting the reasonable arguments I think I could concur with proceeding today. But I am still not satisfied with the arguments that were first given to us in our meetings, that indicated that we would conclude with this work by June 30, and then to be told later on that it may not be possible. I think we should be clear about the information we are giving and receiving, and we should also ensure that whatever legislation we are proposing meets the needs of government, but even more so, is based on some facts and arguments that are a bit more truthful.

I am prepared, I guess, at this time and did not oppose unanimous approval, mainly to satisfy the needs of our government, but more so to live up to an obligation that we have been signatories to, including myself. I do hope in future, when you are making presentations with regard to the importance of legislation, that you articulate those issues that are important for us to address, and why we should proceed as quickly as we can, because I would not doubt that if this piece of legislation was so important, that we should have proceeded as soon as we were back at the session; in fact, as soon as we concluded our new rule changes, that we should not have proceeded so that we are not caught by such a tight time schedule. I just wanted to make those comments before I left this particular item.

Thank you. Mr. Arngna'naaq.