Does the committee agree that Bill 6 is ready for third reading?

Agreed.

---Agreed

Bill 6 is now ready for third reading. Thank you. I would like to thank the Minister and the witnesses for appearing before the committee. Thank you. Mr. Todd.

Mr. Chairman, I just need a moment to get hold of Mr. Ng for the Statute Revision Act.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to introduce Bill 15, Statute Revision Act. This bill authorizes the preparation of the Revised Statutes of the Northwest Territories, 1998 and the Statutes of Nunavut, 1999.

Mr. Chairman, the statute revision project will be funded by the Government of Canada, as part of the $150 million Nunavut implementation package. At its conclusion, each of Nunavut and the new Western Territory will have a clean and up-to-date statute base that has been adjusted to the extent possible to that territory. It is important that the role and powers of a Statute Revision Commissioner not be overstated.

The Statute Revision Commissioner will be making relatively technical adjustments to the statutes, since he or she will not be empowered to make changes requiring political or policy decisions. That is the role of the Legislature. The revisions will be based on the statutes of the Northwest Territories consolidated as of July 1, 1988. These statutes will be renumbered and reorganized to account for the addition of new provisions by amendment or a repeal of provisions after the cut-off date of the last territorial revision; the Revised Statutes of the Northwest Territories, 1988.

Statutory language will also be modernized and made consistent within each statute and, to a lesser extent, between the various statutes. The result will be statutes that are more consistent, more understandable and easier to find. They will provide a new starting point for each of the new territories. T he Statute Revision Commissioner will be empowered to make relatively-limited changes to account for the creation of Nunavut and a new Western Territory, such "Nunavut" for references to the "Northwest Territories, " or substituting references to "lqaluit" for references to "Yellowknife."

We envisage, however, that the Statute Revision Commissioner will, in practice, take an active advisory role in developing the legal and legislative frameworks for the post-division territories. The Statute Revision Commissioner, in tandem with the legislative division, will take instructions from government departments and advice from other bodies such as the Nunavut Implementation Commission for the preparation of substantive amendments adapting territorial statutes for Nunavut and the new Western Territory.

Some of these amendments would be enacted prior to the July 1998 cut-off date; that will determine what is to be included in the Revised Statutes of the Northwest Territories, 1998, and the Revised Statutes of Nunavut, 1999. To provide a purely speculative example, the Herd and Fencing Act could perhaps be amended in the next two years to include a statement that the act does not apply to the portion of the territories described as Nunavut in the Nunavut Act.

The Herd and Fencing Act would, as a consequence, be omitted from the Statutes of Nunavut, 1999. I should emphasize that this example was only intended to be illustrative and does not in any way reflect present policy decisions. The Statute Revision Commissioner may also work on a similar basis to prepare statutes that would be presented for enactment early in the life of the new legislative assemblies. As an example of such a project, I would suggest that it would perhaps be useful for each of Nunavut and the new Western Territory to have a draft Official Languages Act prepared in advance of division. In my view, this example illustrates both the utility of having the Statute Revision Commissioner as a resource and his or her need for ongoing instructions to guide work of a substantive policy nature.

Mr. Chairman, division will present a great many challenges to the governments and citizens of the two new territories. The Statute Revision Commissioner will be a valuable resource as we struggle with the legal and legislative implications of division. We can look forward to the development of our new statute base that is appropriate for each new territory. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Does the chairperson of the Standing Committee on Government Operations wish to make comments? Mr. Erasmus.

Standing Committee On Government Operations Comments

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Standing Committee on Government Operations met today with the Minister of Justice to review Bill 15, Statute Revision Act. Committee Members recognized the importance of this bill in

preparing for the division of the Northwest Territories, and agreed that it should be moved to Committee of the Whole for further discussion.

Members may take this opportunity in Committee of the Whole to raise any specific questions they may have. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Erasmus. Mr. Minister, before we proceed to general comments, do you wish to bring in the witnesses?

Yes, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.

Do we have the concurrence of the committee?

Agreed.

---Agreed

Agreed. Go ahead. Proceed.

Thank you. For the record, Mr. Minister, would you please introduce the witness to the committee?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have with me Mr. Mark Aitken, legislative counsel, Department of Justice. Thank you.

Thank you. The chair now opens the floor to general comments. Mr. Krutko.

General Comments

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Mr. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. No, because this is a special project with dedicated resources from the federal government for this specific project.

Thank you. General comments. Mr. Krutko.

Thank you. Mr. Minister.

Mr. Chairman, I will ask Mr. Aitken to respond.

Thank you. Mr. Aitken.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I don't actually think there will be any effect that would slow down the other legislation of the House. As the Minister pointed out, there are dedicated resources for this; additional resources provided by the federal government as part of the Nunavut implementation package. One advantage of the statute revision, in respect of the land claims agreements, is that when the statute revision is being prepared, the statute body for each territory will be reflecting changes that have been made in respect of those land claim agreements. So, for instance, the Wildlife Act for the West would include parts pertaining to the Inuvialuit settlement and the Gwich'in settlement, but provisions relating to the Nunavut settlement would not be included, and vice versa in the East; so it would be easy to understand those acts. Thank you.