Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am confused by the comments made by some Ministers in this House in the past few days. Several Ordinary Members have pointed out there is an urgent need for legislative amendments to be made because we have several acts that are outdated and cumbersome. The Labour Standards Act and the Condominium Act, for example, are preventing people in the Northwest Territories from carrying out reasonable and necessary arrangements that any employer, purchaser or business person located elsewhere in Canada would be entitled to make.
Under our Labour Standards Act, an employer or employee in the Northwest Territories cannot even come to an agreement about the hours of work that best suit them both. We do not know how many employees our legislation is forcing to work outside of the system, possibly illegally. Another prime example is our Workers' Compensation Act. I venture to say there are no other Workers' Compensation Boards in Canada who have the ability to sue an employer.
Mr. Speaker, Members have been told by the Deputy Premier, by the Minister of Finance and by the Minister of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development that the legislative agenda of this government is full and that the government has set its priorities and apparently, that is that. Division is coming and our hands are tied. There is very little they say they can do.
On the other hand, new initiatives are being brought forward and we cannot seem to get a clear answer as to whether legislation will be required to implement them or not and I refer to the Keewatin pilot project.
Mr. Speaker, the government seems to have its priorities misplaced. With division coming, there is even more reason to clean up the field. The last thing that the two new governments need, is to inherit obstructive legislation. Our outdated statutes are causing enough problems now. Surely, we do not want to duplicate them. Before we spend all our efforts putting into place grand new initiatives that may not even be appropriate for Nunavut, we need to make sure we do not perpetuate past mistakes. That is where our priorities should be. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
--Applause.