Agreed.

Agreed.

Thank you, Madam Chairperson. Madam Chairperson, I would like to make an amendment to Clause 79, Bill 15 and that it be deleted and the following be substituted: The act or portions of this act shall come into force on a day or days to be fixed by order the Commissioner, but no such order shall be made before April 1, 1999. Thank you.

Madam Chair, thank you. This motion has far reaching implications that I think the honourable Member has not taken into consideration before putting it forward. I would just like to articulate on a few of those. One of them, Madam Chairperson, is the fact that this bill is linked directly with the Child and Family Services Act, so any delay in this act in putting it into force would also delay that act or make significant changes required. Secondly, as I have indicated before, it is important to recognize that we have a legislative mandate and a moral responsibility to enact laws up until March 31, 1999. If the Nunavut government chooses to change those laws, then they have that right, post-April 1st, 1999. There are some factors that have to be taken into consideration of this amendment, Madam Chairperson. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chairperson. I will just make a couple of comments against the motion. I have some serious problems in some of the do-nothing attitude that some of us seem to have taken hold of over the last year or so, not just on this issue, but other issues related to division. The trend is rather than us, the duly elected legislators, MLAs, exercising our responsibility and exercising our rights to make laws and to make changes, that when groups make any kind of opposition, the trend is to say, let us not do it, let us delay until April 1st, 1999, or shortly thereafter. To tell you the truth, all the things we have put aside to do after April 1st are really mounting up. Some of them are very major. Some have ramifications on other acts, as this one does. Some have monetary ramifications like the Keewatin resupply thing, for example, where we would have been saving millions of dollars by now, et cetera.

I would suggest to MLAs to vote against this procrastination, I guess. Let us get on with this. The Minister is perfectly right that if we put this law on the books, the first legislature of Nunavut can make the required changes. I have been watching this area of law and the politics about the family law area for more than ten years. The consultations have occurred, the statements have been made, the law has been drafted. Now it has come up to us to pass it and we need to do that. I have seen the letters of concern from the Nunavut Social Development Council and from the Interim Commissioner's office. There is, aside from some minor things, really nothing except to say there has not been enough consultation or it does not reflect enough the Inuit way. To me, although it sounds supportable, it does not mean a whole lot unless the people who are opposing it show me exactly what the problem with it is. Those will be my comments, Madam Chairperson, that we go ahead and exercise our responsibility and do it and suggest to NTI, the Nunavut Social Development Council and Interim Commissioner's office that we work together over the next year to make improvements so that it is even better in a year's time. We are not pushing them aside, but we are saying we have to take this next step to go onto the next one after that. That would be my comment, Madam Chairperson.

Thank you, Madam Chairperson. Some of this may have been spurred along by the submission from NTI and the Nunavut Social Development Council which points out that they have a right to participate in the development of social policies for Nunavut. It also indicates that the Adoption Act, if it is passed, be amended so it does not come into force until April 1st, 1999. Madam Chairperson, the Nunavut Social Development Council and NTI clearly have a role and responsibility to participate in developing appropriate legislation for Nunavut. Over the next few months, work will be underway to identify those Northwest Territories statutes that must be amended because of division. Under the amendments to the Nunavut Act currently before federal parliament, it will be possible to make amendments to legislation that apply differently in Nunavut and in the new Western Territory.

Agreed.

Agreed.

Agreed.

Agreed.