Thank you, Madam Chairperson. I am pleased to be here today to introduce the Nunavut Judicial System Implementation act.
This act provides for the operation of a single-level trial court for Nunavut to be known as the Nunavut Court of Justice. The new court will be a merger of the Supreme Court and the Territorial Court and will assume the total jurisdiction presently carried out by these two courts. The act is a companion legislation to federal Bill C-57, An Act to Amend the Nunavut Act, with respect to the Nunavut Court of Justice and to amend other acts in consequence, which is currently before Parliament.
I have just provided a submission and support of this bill to the parliamentary committee reviewing it. As Members will be aware, the Nunavut Implementation Commission first raised and gave its support to the concept of the unified court system for Nunavut in its Footprints 2 report. The decision to establish a single-level court system in Nunavut was made by the parties to the Nunavut Political Accord following a justice conference held in Iqaluit in November 1997, which indicated overwhelming support for this proposal.
The development and drafting of this bill was coordinated by the Office of the Interim Commissioner through the Nunavut Department of Justice in a cooperative effort with the Department of Justice in both the GNWT and the Government of Canada. The process also included post-consultation with NTI and the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs and Justice Canada. Extensive consultation on the legislation also took place with northern judges, lawyers and other interested parties, including the Nunavut Social Development Council.
This bill, which is the product of a highly cooperative and collaborative effort among all the parties, will help to make the administration of justice in Nunavut simpler and more accessible to the people. Thank you, Madam Chairperson.