Mr. Chairman, could I ask why only certain sections of the act are going to come into force by order of the Commissioner?

Mr. Chairman, I understand that certain sections require regulations to be done and put into effect. That is the reason. Some of these require regulations to be drafted.

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.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, we have a report of some substance, some length. The report on Bill 13, An Act to Amend the Fair Practices Act.

The Standing Committee on Legislation has completed its review of Bill 13, An Act to Amend the Fair Practices Act. The committee held its public hearing on January 10, 1995 and received submissions from the Minister of Justice, the Union of Northern Workers and the NWT Federation of Labour. The committee appreciated the contributions of all those who have made their presentations.

The Fair Practices Act of the NWT was enacted to recognize equal rights of all people in accordance with the universal declaration of human rights declared by the United Nations. The act is designated to protect people's rights from discrimination.

The Fair Practices Act is administered by the Department of Justice. The Minister of Justice has the authority to appoint an officer to inquire into any complaint received under the act. However, the Government of the Northwest Territories is a major employer, landlord and provider of services in the NWT and, therefore, it was felt that the fair practices office needed to be more independent of the government. Bill 13 proposes to amend the act to provide for greater independence and impartiality of the fair practices officer.

Bill 13 proposes to further amend the act to provide the fair practices officer with the authority to make orders which are binding. These orders may be filed with the Territorial Court and may be enforced in the same manner as a judgement of the Territorial Court. Appeals may be submitted to the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories.

Concerns Of The Committee

During the public hearings, it became apparent to the committee that there were a number of issues that should be addressed.

Opening Of Complaint Files

The standing committee was concerned that the fair practices officer may only open a complaint file if the complaint is received in writing. Although a person may make an enquiry by telephone, the complaint itself must be in writing. In addition, interpretation and translation services for the aboriginal languages are not readily available in the fair practices office. Together, these language and procedural issues could be seen as discriminatory to that segment of the population that does not read, write or speak English.

Therefore, the Standing Committee on Legislation recommends that the government develop an alternate process for receiving complaints which would allow for the opening of a complaint file upon a verbal submission.

Public Awareness

The standing committee heard from all witnesses that the fair practices office is not greatly publicized, to the point of it being the government's "best-kept secret" according to one presenter. A current fair practices officer informed the committee that great efforts to publicize the existence of the act and the office have never been made as the fair practices officers are not particularly anxious to encourage people to make complaints. The standing committee is of the opinion that the Fair Practices Act and the office of the fair practices officer should be brought to the public's attention through an extensive public awareness campaign. The Minister assured the committee that a large component of the new fair practices office is a requirement that public awareness be increased. This includes developing educational materials and communicating with interests groups on human rights issues.

Public Interest

During its review of Bill 13, the standing committee was concerned that the act currently allows a complaint to be withdrawn by the complainant at any time. It was felt that this would not protect the public interest in all cases. The committee feels that there should be provisions for a complaint to be continued if it is in the public's best interest to do so. The Minister assured the committee that he was prepared to amend the legislation to allow the fair practices officer to proceed with a complaint if it is in the public interest and no negative impact will be felt by the complainant. Bill 13 was amended in committee to address this issue.

Comprehensive Human Rights Legislation

In 1984, the government tabled a document entitled Proposed Human Rights Code for the Northwest Territories, Consultation Paper. This document was to be the foundation of the development of human rights legislation for the Northwest Territories. The standing committee was concerned that we still only have partial human rights legislation. The standing committee feels there is a strong need for complete and comprehensive human rights legislation in the Northwest

Territories. Therefore, the Standing Committee on Legislation recommends:

That the government prepare and table human rights legislation within two years using Tabled Document 7-83(3) Proposed Human Rights Code for the Northwest Territories, Consultation Paper as a model.

Binding The GNWT

The standing committee had a great deal of difficulty with this area in the proposed bill. The NWT Interpretation Act states that no legislation will bind the Government of the Northwest Territories unless it is expressly stated in legislation. Currently, the Fair Practices Act does not expressly state that it is binding on the GNWT, one of the major employers in the territory. Bill 13 proposes to amend the current legislation to state the legislation is binding on the Government of the Northwest Territories. This amendment is contained in clause 3 of Bill 13. The standing committee had many reservations about this clause due to the implied retroactivity of the words "for greater certainty" contained within the clause.

The government has applied to the federal court for a decision of jurisdiction on the issue of "pay equity" which was filed in 1989 by the Union of Northern Workers. The Union of Northern Workers filed their complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Commission. The government contends that the Canadian Human Rights Commission has no jurisdiction in this matter because the Northwest Territories has the Fair Practices Act, partial human rights legislation. The matter of jurisdiction is before the court at this time.

Due to the outstanding issue of jurisdiction, the standing committee is concerned that the implied retroactivity of clause 3 could influence the decision before the federal court. The committee is of the opinion that the government should not attempt to influence a decision before the courts. The committee does, however, support that the act be amended to bind the government.

This concludes the standing committee's report on the review of Bill 13, An Act to Amend the Fair Practices Act. On March 27, 1995, the standing committee passed a motion that Bill 13 was ready for consideration in committee of the whole, as reprinted.

Mr. Chairman, I have a couple of motions that I would like to make, if I may. The first motion: Committee Motion 48-12(7) To Change Process For Receiving Complaints And Provide Interpreter/Translator Services, Carried

The Standing Committee on Legislation recommends that the government develop an alternate process for receiving complaints which would allow for the opening of a complaint file upon a verbal submission and further, that the government insist that the fair practices office have interpretation and translation services immediately available in all of the official languages of the Northwest Territories.