Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Bill 13, An Act to Amend the Fair Practices Act, is the subject of extensive review before the Standing Committee on Legislation.
The proposed amendments were drafted to clarify the application of the present act, and provide greater assurance to the public of the independence and impartiality of the fair practices officer who investigates and resolves complaints under the act.
When I appeared before the Standing Committee on Legislation, the committee Members had a number of recommendations to make as to possible amendments to Bill 13 and ways in which the selection process for an independent fair practices officer might be improved. Since then, I have indicated to the standing committee and repeat to you my commitment to providing the services of the fair practices officer in the official languages, as required by the Official Languages Act, and to enhancing the public profile of the Fair Practices Act and the fair practices office.
When I appeared before the standing committee, I listened attentively to the views of committee Members, union representatives and other individuals on the need for more comprehensive human rights legislation in the Northwest Territories. While the present government cannot bind future governments to a particular course of action, we will undertake to begin the process of developing new human rights legislation, with a view to bringing forward a legislative action paper early in the life of the next government. If this initiative is taken as seriously by the new government as its subject matter warrants, it will result in new human rights legislation being passed early in the term of the new government. In the meantime, we will concentrate our attention on ensuring the effective operation of the presentation of the present act and increasing public awareness of human rights issues in general.
The Fair Practices Act prohibits discrimination on a number of grounds which appear in human rights legislation in every Canadian jurisdiction. There is a large body of case law interpreting each ground of discrimination. Other Canadian jurisdictions use the term "family status" to describe one of those grounds. The present territorial act uses the term "family." An amendment is proposed to make the prohibited grounds of discrimination in the present act consistent with the standard grounds in other Canadian jurisdictions.
The proposed amendments also provided for increased independence and impartiality of the fair practices officer. The fair practices officer investigates complaints of discrimination and employment, accommodation in the provision of public services. To avoid any appearance of bias in the appointment of the officer, it is proposed that the fair practices officer be appointed by the Commissioner and Executive Council, rather than by the Minister of Justice, as is presently the case.
The Government of the Northwest Territories is an employer, landlord and provider of services. The proposed amendments, combined with the intention to contract for the services of a fair practices officer who is not a government employee, will make the fair practices officer more independent of government. This will provide complainants with a fairer and more timely process to deal with their complaints. As part of the fair practices officer's increased independence and impartiality, the proposed amendments provide for greater powers and flexibility in investigations, mediations and enquiry through hearings.
The amendments also provide for increased enforceability of the orders of the fair practices officer. Orders will be registerable with the Territorial Court of the Northwest Territories. Once again, these amendments are aimed at assuring all parties to a complaint are being dealt with in an independent, unbiased and timely manner by the fair practices officer.
The standing committee's report to this committee recommends a number of minor changes to the bill and one additional clause that is intended to address the standing committee's concern, that in certain circumstances it may be desirable to proceed with a complaint although the complainant may wish to withdraw the complaint.
The bill, as recommended by the standing committee, provides a discretion to the fair practices officer to proceed with a complaint if it is in the best interest of the public at large, provided that so proceeding would not have an undue, adverse impact on a person who made the original complaint. Mahsi, Mr. Chairman.