Thank you. Your motion is in order. To the motion. Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? Motion is carried. Bill 24 has had first reading. First reading of bills. Item 18, second reading of bills. Item 19, consideration in committee of the whole of bills and other matters. Bill 3, Family Law Act; Bill 4, Children's Law Act; Bill 5, Adoption Act; Bill 15, An Act to Amend the Workers' Compensation Act; Committee Report 08-13(4), Minister's Statement 110-13(4), Tabled Document 108-13(4). With Mr. Steen in the Chair.

I would like to call the committee back to order. We are dealing with the Children's Law Act. Mr. Minister, do you have any opening remarks?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yes, this bill is part of the family law reform initiative which has been under way for a number of years now, beginning with the work of the Family Law Review Committee. It is one of the four proposed bills currently before the Assembly to update family law in the NWT. The main subject areas covered by the bill are the legal status of children, the parentage of children, custody of and access to children, guardianship of the estates of children and child support. The focus of this bill is on children, recognizing their importance in our lives and in the future of our territories. It recognizes that children have important rights, including the right to be treated equally, whether or not their parents are married. It also recognizes children's rights to be cared for and supported by their parents. The bill stresses that the most important consideration in court decisions on the custody of and access to a child are the best interests of the child with the recognition that differing cultural values and practices must be respected in those decisions.

The Standing Committee on Social Programs conducted a public review of the family law bills this spring and summer. There was a significant response from the public and interested organizations at the public hearings. The standing committee then made recommendations for improvements to the bill resulting in a number of amendments during their clause by clause review in September. One set of amendments replaced part 4 on child support with a number of sections which allow either the use of the recent federal child support guidelines made under the Divorce Act or alternatively allow the territorial government to develop its own guidelines for determining child support. At the request of the standing committee, further proposed amendments have been developed to improve the bill. These will be discussed later today. I would like to thank the Members of the standing committee and their staff for their thorough work on the family law reform package. I also want to thank all those who were involved in this initiative, including members of the public and members of the Family Law Review Committee. I look forward to further discussion on the bill later today, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. The Chairman of the Standing Committee on Social Programs, Mr. Enuaraq. Do you have any opening remarks on behalf of the committee?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. A number of amendments were made during the clause by clause review. Since the bill was introduced in the House, federal child support guidelines have come into force. Children are entitled to similar levels of support whether their parents are married or common-law partners. The federal guidelines are being adopted as part of this legislation. A number of amendments were made to reflect this change. A blood sample is required for determining parentage. The section on consanguinity stopped one teenage father from giving consent to have a blood sample taken. This has been corrected. A family parent clause was added to the best interests section. This requires the court to consider the wellness of one parent to facilitate access for the other parent in determining custody and access arrangements. In making a judgement on custody and access, the bill only required written reasons when the judge ordered joint orders when one or both of the parties did not request it. This has been changed to require written reasons in any case where the judge orders custody arrangements that were not requested by one or both of the parties.

Guardianship for youth is normally ended at age 19. There was prohibition allowing youth under 19 who were parents to apply to end guardianship. This subsection was removed, giving all youth equal treatment and equal opportunity to make application in unusual cases. The section on mediation was amended to allow the court to order a couple to participate in mediation. We are encouraged by the success of the mandatory mediation in other jurisdictions, and this provides a first step.

Further amendments will be required in the House on some issues. The section on vital statistics, reduced ability to change of birth record is unclear. The department is looking into this problem. We are concerned about section 19 on the rights of parents who leave the family home. There is the potential for a parent to make promises about access, and then not follow through once the other parent is out of the house. One parent moving out of the home also establishes a status quo which may be difficult to overturn later in court. The bill will not require assessors to be available to the court to provide testimony regarding assessment reports. This is contrary to the normal rules of evidence. The committee has discussed this point with the Minister a number of times. In our opinion based on the public feedback, section 29(9), should be deleted to ensure assessments follow the rules of evidence. Section 30 deals with problems with access either custodial parent denies the other parent access or parent does not use their access. We felt this section was not strong enough. The department is preparing amendments which will provide specific sanctions on these cases.

There is no provision for recognizing the differing costing in the NWT communities in the child support guidelines. The committee felt strongly that these differences must be taken into account. The Minister has indicated that at some point the NWT could develop its own guidelines. This is a step we would like to see taken in the future. Section 59(3) deals with the setting aside contract and default. While the bill was amended in the committee to give a six month default period we would like to see a further amendment to a shorter period of time. Section 7 deals with restraining orders. The committee felt that the third parties such as family members or concerned relatives should have ability to obtain restraining order. The committee did raise concern about the cost of assessments. There are no qualified assessors practising in the NWT This means couples in dispute have to bring in an expert from outside the NWT The cost to have the assessment are extremely high since legal aid will not cover these costs. This becomes an option only available to those with money. We suggested that there is the need for a government assessment service. This would significantly decrease the cost. It will also encourage couples and the courts to use assessors since the service would be available locally. The committee would like to see the Minister continue to consider this option. Many individuals raised concerns with maintenance enforcement. They asked what the point of new laws were if parents were not forced to live up to their support obligations. Although this was not directly part of the bill, we share the concern and will be addressing this in detail with the Minister of Justice. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Enuaraq. We will then go into general comments on the bill. Before we do that I would like to ask the honourable Minister if he wished to bring in the witness or witnesses. Mr. Minister.

Yes, please, Mr. Chairman.

Agreed. Mr. Minister, would you please introduce the witnesses to the committee.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. To my right, Janis Cooper, legal counsel. To my left, Diane Buckland, legislative counsel. Thank you.

Thank you. Welcome to the committee. General comments from the membership. Do we agree then we go clause by clause? Thank you. Yesterday, when we went through the process, it was something that we do not usually do. Every time we recognized a clause, the Minister would go into a brief explanation of that clause. It is decided that we will follow that same manner as we did yesterday. Thank you. We are dealing with Bill 4, Children's Law Act. Clause 1. Agreed? Mr. Minister.

Agreed. This clause contains definitions which are used for the purpose of the entire act. Thank you.

Thank you. Part 1, clause 2. Mr. Minister.

This clause on the legal status of children reflects the current law in the Child Welfare Act. It indicates there are no legal distinctions between the status of a child born to married parents and a child born to unmarried parents. It also sets out the legal relationship of a child to other family members, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you. Agreed? Clause 3. Mr. Minister.

This is an interpretative clause in respect to clause 2 on the relationship of a child to other people.

Thank you. Agreed? On page 3, part 2, clause 4. Mr. Minister.

This clause relates to the determination of the parentage of a child where maternity is uncertain. An application may be made to the court for determination as to whether a woman is the mother of a child. This is also included in the current Child Welfare Act, Mr. Chairman.

Agreed? Thank you. Clause 5 of Bill 6. Mr. Minister.

This clause also relates to the determination of the parentage of a child. Where paternity is uncertain, an application may be made to the court for determination as to whether a man is the father of a child. This is also included in the current Child Welfare Act.

Agreed? Thank you. Page 4, clause 6. Mr. Minister.

This clause on the effect of an order regarding parentage is also found in the Child Welfare Act.