Thank you, Madam Chairperson. The Standing Committee on Government Operations reviewed Bill 12, Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act, 1998, No. 2, at its meeting on November 12, 1998. The committee would like to thank the Minister of Justice and his legislative counsel for presenting the bill and responding to the committee's questions.

The purpose of this bill is to correct errors and inconsistencies in various NWT statutes. These include corrections to typographical errors, incorrect section references, errors in grammar and structure and errors in the French translation. References to the Companies Act, which will be repealed March 31, 1999, are removed from various statutes. One amendment to the bill was passed during the standing committee review. In the original bill, a reference to section 4 was missing in subclause 33(2). Subclause 33(2) provides that certain provisions that delete references to the Companies Act will come into force March 31, 1999, when the Companies Act is repealed.

The standing committee had no difficulty with this bill, however, committee Members may have further comments or questions on the bill as we proceed. This concludes the standing committee's comments on Bill 12, Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act, 1998, No. 2. Thank you, Madam Chairperson.