Thank you. Clause 9. Agreed?

Agreed.

Thank you. Bill as a whole. Agreed?

Agreed.

Does the committee agree that Bill 16 is ready for third reading?

Agreed.

Thank you. Bill 16 is now ready for third reading and on behalf of the committee I would like to thank the Minister and the witnesses for appearing before the committee. Thank you. As agreed to by Members that subsequent to Bill 16 we are to deal with Bill 17, and we will proceed with Bill 17, An Act to Amend the Territorial Court Act and Justices of the Peace Act. I believe Mr. Arlooktoo is now ready to proceed with his opening remarks. Mr. Arlooktoo.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, amendments to the Territorial Court Act and the Justices of the Peace Act.

Mr. Chairman, this bill is required because of a September 18, 1997, ruling of the Supreme Court of Canada in an appeal from judgements in PEI, Manitoba and Alberta. That case concerned the question whether the judicial independence of judges was breached when governments cut back the salaries and benefits of judges as part of the fiscal restraint measures of recent years. The Supreme Court ruled that a commission must be interposed between the judiciary and the Executive or legislature to report on a regular basis on the adequacy of judicial compensation and to report on proposed changes or freezes to judicial compensation. While judicial salaries can be cut back pursuant to general restraint measures, these must first be reviewed by the Judicial Compensation Review Commission.

The Supreme Court suspended its judgment for one year to provide time for jurisdictions to establish judicial compensation commissions.

Commissions must be independent, effective and objective. Based on the reasoning of the Supreme Court and the proposed course of action in other jurisdictions, the bill provides that the commission will be composed of three members, none of whom may be judges, sitting MLAs, public servants or lawyers. One member will be chosen by the judges, one by the government and these two members will select the third, who will be the chairperson.

The mandate of the commission will be to review proposals to change or freeze salaries and other benefits, and to review judicial renumeration every three years in light of inflation and other factors. The commission will initially review the compensation package, previously negotiated between the judges and the government, including the cutbacks to judges' salaries.

The Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Constitution does not require that decisions of the commission be binding. However, the draft bill does provide for binding decisions on the basis that the experience of jurisdictions with commissions making binding recommendations is that commissions constituted with responsible members will make responsible decisions. As Minister of Justice and Attorney General, I prefer this to the alternative of non-binding recommendations, which would require the government to give reasons if it rejected a recommendation. These reasons could be reviewed by the courts to determine if they were defensibly rational. Non-binding recommendations risks the spectacle of judges taking the government to court and courts overturning decisions of the government.

Also included in this bill are minor amendments to the Territorial Court Act and the Justices of the Peace Act, to remove a potential barrier to the capacity of Justices of the Peace to exercise jurisdiction under the Young Offenders Act. It was the intention of a previous Legislative Assembly to give this jurisdiction to Justices of the Peace but additional changes are required to make it happen.

Mr. Chairman, I, and my officials, will be happy to answer any questions that the Members of the committee might have.

Thank you, Mr. Arlooktoo. While we will make allowance for the committees and Members of the committee to ask questions, I believe Mr. Enuaraq, on behalf of the Standing Committee on Social Programs, has an opening remark. Mr. Enuaraq.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the Standing Committee on Social Programs reviewed Bill 17, An Act to Amend the Territorial Court Act and the Justices of the Peace Act, at its meeting on May 28, 1998. The committee would like to thank the Minister of Justice and officials from the Department of Justice for presenting the bill and responding to the committee's questions. Bill 17 is in large part a response to developments over the last several years relating to judicial independence in the Northwest Territories and across Canada. This bill would amend the Territorial Court Act to provide for the establishment of NWT Judicial Renumeration Commission, as required by a recent decision of the Supreme Court of Canada.

On September 18, 1997, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled on the question of whether the Governments of PEI, Manitoba and Alberta had breached the Constitutional principle of judicial independence when they cut back the salaries and benefits of provincial court judges in recent years. The SCC held that, to preserved judicial independence, each province and territory must establish an independent commission between the judiciary and the Executive. The body would report regularly to the Executive and the Legislature on the adequacy of judicial compensation and on any proposed changes or freezes to judicial compensation.

The Supreme Court of Canada later clarified its decision and said that each jurisdiction must have a commission by September 18, 1998. If a commission was not set up, the independence of the territorial court judges in the Northwest Territories could be successfully challenged.

Under the bill, the Judicial Renumeration Commission would review judges salaries and benefits every three years or more often if requested and would make recommendations to the Minster on these matters. The recommendations of the commission would be binding. Committee Members questioned the Minister about several aspects of the bill, in particular, some Members questioned whether the recommendations of the commission should be binding. Under the court decision, the recommendations are not required to be binding, but they should not be set aside lightly. If a recommendation is not followed, the decision must be able to be justified in court. The committee recognizes that there are benefits to providing for binding recommendations and that this would result in the less likelihood of litigation or compensation issues. The bill also would add a provision that the Cabinet may not vary the location of which a territorial judge may reside, except with the consent of the judge. This is consistent with the Supreme Court of Canada decision.

The second aspect of this bill would amend the Justice of the Peace Act and the Territorial Court Act to clarify that a Justice of the Peace has jurisdiction to deal with the youth under the Young Offenders Act. Subject to the terms of the JP's appointment, the JP could preside at a trial of a young person for offences under either federal or Northwest Territories law, where the offence is an eligible offence under the regulations. The bill also provides that JPs are appointed as youth court judges on the recommendation of the Chief Judge. Currently, the recommendation of the Chief Judge is not required.

Mr. Chairman, committee Members may have additional comments or questions on this bill as we proceed. This concludes the standing committees comments on Bill 17, An Act to Amend the Territorial Court Act and the Justices of the Peace Act. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Enuaraq. That takes us to general comments. Before we proceed with general comments, I would like to ask the honourable Minister if he wishes to bring in the witnesses. Mr. Arlooktoo.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, yes, I do. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you. Do we have the agreement of the Members?

Agreed.

Thank you. Proceed. Thank you. I thank the Sergeant-at-Arms for assisting the witnesses. Mr. Minister, would you please introduce your witnesses to the committee?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I have with me Mr. Don Cooper, the Deputy Minister. Gerry Sutton, the Assistant Deputy Minister. Denise Gagnon, Legislative Counsel with the Department of Justice.

Thank you. For the record I did want to indicate we are dealing with Bill 17, An Act the Amend the Territorial Court Act and the Justices of the Peace Act. We are not ready for general comments. Shall we proceed with clause by clause?

Agreed.

Thank you. Part 1, Territorial Court Act. Clause 1. Agreed?

Agreed.

Thank you. Page 6, part 2. Clause 2. Agreed?

Agreed.

Thank you. Page 7, part 3. Clause 3. Agreed?

Agreed.