Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The mine safety bill committee was formed in December of 1991 to prepare a new mine safety bill and regulations. At that time, the unions representing the vast majority of unionized mine workers in the Northwest Territories refused to join the committee because they objected to the manner in which the committee was structured.
The committee is comprised of two representatives from mine management, one representative of employees from a non-union mine and one representative from the Union of Northern Workers who represents a small number of mine employees.
Despite the absence of organized workers, the committee has continued with its work and has been developing a new mine safety bill and regulations for close to one year.
To date, the committee has completed the drafting instructions for the new bill and has made substantial headway on the regulations that will accompany this legislation.
While the work of the committee has been admirable, this process does not address the views of all of the stakeholders concerned with mine safety in the Northwest Territories. The absence of organized workers in this process means that the views of a significant and important sector of the mining industry in the Northwest Territories are not being considered.
Like previous Ministers of Safety and Public Services, I have tried to explore ways that organized labour could be accommodated within the existing review process as a full and willing participant.
After a great deal of discussion with the president of the Northwest Territories Federation of Labour, an accommodation has been reached that will allow organized labour to participate in the development of this important legislation.
This agreement would allow the Northwest Territories Federation of Labour to nominate persons from organized labour to sit on the committee, the number to be equivalent to the membership of the committee as currently structured. The Federation of Labour would also be given the opportunity to review the proposed new act and the work done on the regulations to date and offer suggestions on how it can be improved.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to commend the president and executive of the Northwest Territories federation of labour for their efforts in bringing organized labour back to the table to review this important piece of legislation.
It is important to ensure, at the conclusion of this process, we have a good piece of legislation which ensures the safety of all mine workers in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.