Agreed.

---Agreed

Thank you. Total activity for this page is $230,000.

Agreed.

---Agreed

Thank you. Back to the departmental summary. Capital expenditures, total capital expenditures, $230,000. Agreed?

Agreed.

---Agreed

Do we agree that the 1995-96 capital estimates of the Legislative Assembly are concluded?

Agreed.

---Agreed

Agreed. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

We are waiting for Mr. Todd to arrive. Thank you.

The committee will come back to order. We are dealing with Bill 13, An Act to Amend the Motor Vehicles Act. Mr. Minister, do you have opening remarks?

I do, Mr. Chairman, thank you. Is this Bill 13 or Bill 14, we're dealing with, Mr. Chairman?

Thank you, Mr. Minister. We are dealing with Bill 13 and Bill 14. Bill 13 first and then Bill 14.

Mr. Chairman, I don't want to confuse everybody, but my opening remarks incorporate both bills. Is that okay?

Agreed.

---Agreed

Minister's Introductory Remarks

Mr. Chairman, my remarks today deal with both Bill 13 and Bill 14, as a pair. Bill 14, the repeal of the Public Service Vehicles Act, removes a whole layer of regulation from the trucking industry. Bill 13, amendments to the Motor Vehicles Act, replaces the quasi-judicial function of the five-member highway transport board with a much simpler appeal process to a motor vehicle adjudicator. Taken together, I think these two bills are a good example of how less government can result in better government.

The Public Service Vehicles Act is the legislation establishing the Northwest Territories' highway transport board and its authority for the economic regulation of the trucking industry.

In 1988, the federal Motor Vehicle Transport Act effectively removed the authority of provinces and territories to regulate inter-provincial/territorial trucking operations. From the time the federal legislation came into effect, the highway transport board became less and less active.

Even though the Public Service Vehicles Act was still in force, the board decided to cease operation altogether as of January 1, 1994. Bill 14 formally repeals the Public Service Vehicles Act and eliminates the highway transport board. The regulatory environment of the Canadian trucking industry has been thoroughly reorganized over the past several years. As the control of market entry has been phased out, new regulations concerning driver and vehicle safety fitness have come into effect. In the mid-1980s the federal, provincial and territorial governments, in close cooperation with the trucking industry, devised the standards of the national safety code which have since become the basis for more uniform trucking regulations across Canada.

The regulatory authority to implement the national safety code in the Northwest Territories were passed as amendments to the Motor Vehicles Act in 1989. The registrar of motor vehicles is responsible for the administration of the Motor Vehicles Act. Especially since the implementation of the national safety code, the registrar has acquired considerable administrative authority. In the interests of natural justice, the purpose of Bill 13 is to establish a quasi-judicial process to appeal decisions of the registrar in cases involving the cancellation or suspension of drivers licences or vehicle registrations.

In the new safety-oriented environment of motor vehicle regulation, the decisions of the registrar of motor vehicles involve fairly straightforward technical and factual considerations. Just the same, in the event an individual or a company should feel aggrieved, these amendments provide the public and industry with a simple and direct means of appeal to a motor vehicles adjudicator.

The motor vehicle adjudicators replace the quasi-judicial function of the highway transport board with a slightly broader mandate to hear appeals of drivers licence suspensions or cancellations. In practice, we intend to make standing appointments of justices of the peace as motor vehicle adjudicators to hear appeals. This will produce a much faster and less expensive appeal process than recourse to the courts. The bill allows the Minister to designate a specific adjudicator in the event of a more complicated or technical case calling for special expertise. Finally, Bill 13 brings over the regulatory authorities concerning cargo insurance and bills of lading from the Public Service Vehicles Act and places them under the Motor Vehicles Act.

In conclusion, Bill 13 improves the fairness and justice of the Motor Vehicles Act with the addition of a simple and inexpensive appeal process. Bill 14 formally eliminates the highway transport board and thereby simplifies the regulatory environment for the trucking industry. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. On behalf of the Standing Committee on Legislation, Mr. Whitford, do you have opening remarks?

Standing Committee On Legislation Comments

Thank you, Mr. Whitford. Before I open the floor for general comments, I would like to ask the Minister if he wants to bring in witnesses.

I would appreciate that thank you.

Sergeant-at-Arms, escort the witnesses in, please.

Welcome. Mr. Minister, for the record, please introduce your witnesses to the committee.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. On my immediate right, is Ms. Carol Whitehouse, legal counsel. On my immediate left is the deputy minister of Transportation, Mr. Andrew Gamble.

Thank you. We are dealing with Bill 13, An Act to Amend the Motor Vehicles Act. The floor is now open for general comments. Mr. Zoe.

General Comments

Thank you. Minister of Transportation.

Ms. Whitehouse said she can advise you on that, Mr. Zoe.