This is page numbers 693 - 720 of the Hansard for the 13th Assembly, 7th Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was aboriginal.

Topics

Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair David Krutko

Thank you, Mr. Premier. Does the Chairman of the Standing Committee on Government Operations which reviewed Bill 15 like to make opening comments? Mr Erasmus.

Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Roy Erasmus Yellowknife North

Mr. Chairman, the committee's comments are already on record in their report, as well as the comments that I made yesterday in introducing the bill. Perhaps we could open it up for general comments from the Members? If I may, I would make a few general comments as a Member and not as a chair of the committee?

Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair David Krutko

We can deal with that when we get to general comments on the bill. At this time, I would like to ask the Minister if he would like to bring in witnesses.

Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Jim Antoine Nahendeh

Yes, I would.

Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair David Krutko

Does the committee agree that the Premier may bring in witnesses?

Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Some Hon. Members

Agreed.

Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair David Krutko

Sergeant-at-Arms, you may bring in the witnesses. Mr. Minister, can you introduce your witnesses?

Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Jim Antoine Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, to my right, we have Mr. Shawn Flynn. He is the legislative counsel. To my left, I have Mr. Rick Bargery. He is the principal secretary. Thank you.

Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair David Krutko

Thank you, Mr. Minister. General comments on Bill 15? Mr. Morin.

Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Don Morin Tu Nedhe

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just for clarification, Mr. Premier, on your opening remarks, you had talked about now that the recommendations of the committee's report are formal motions in committee of the whole in the past that you will be immediately going out to the stakeholders to consult on moving ahead on the Constitutional Electoral Reform Commission, so that would start immediately? Will that start immediately? We do have a time frame that there is a session being scheduled for late September sometime. In order for this Assembly to deal with that, we would have to start immediately, consulting with the stakeholder groups.

Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Page 711

The Chair

The Chair David Krutko

Thank you, Mr. Morin. Mr. Premier.

Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Jim Antoine Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, we will immediately draft letters to aboriginal leaders, community leaders, and different organizations in the Northwest Territories with the content of Bill 15, as well as the recommendation of the committee which suggests that we introduce legislation on a number of key areas, and we intend to do that right away. I had already instructed my staff to begin drafting a comprehensive, informative letter to the appropriate leaders in the Northwest Territories, as well as myself, as well as other Members of Cabinet have been scheduled to continue to attend all the annual assemblies of the different organizations. In fact, I will be attending the Deh Cho First Nations Assembly in Kakisa here next week. Mr. Kakfwi is scheduled to attend the Dogrib Assembly here the following week, and there is a Sahtu Secretariat General Assembly. There is a Gwich'in Assembly still coming up, and the Metis Nation is having theirs in September. There is a series of different Assemblies that we are scheduled to attend. These are all the opportunities that we see right offhand to pursue a consultation with the aboriginal leaders and the different stakeholders. Thank you.

Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair David Krutko

Thank you, Mr. Premier. General comments. Mr. Morin.

Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Don Morin Tu Nedhe

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. When you are dealing with the Aboriginal Summit and the stakeholder groups, because of the time constraint, the government has to be fairly focused and the aboriginal governments have to be paying attention to this issue as well as being focused. Also, in order to get these people to all talk about a political solution, this being one of those, there would have to be proper resources put there to assist them to come to the table. Have you thought of that at all?

Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair David Krutko

Thank you, Mr. Morin. Mr. Premier.

Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Jim Antoine Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We have just recently, in the last 48 hours, officially received the report, although we kind of knew what was in it prior to that. Being in the House and trying to deal with the concerns raised in the House, we have not really looked at that approach and whether

we are going to have some resources available. Perhaps it is something that we have to look at. Thank you.

Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair David Krutko

Thank you, Mr. Premier. General comments. Mr. Morin.

Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Don Morin Tu Nedhe

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. What the Premier is saying is that he is committed to working with the stakeholder groups to come through with a political solution in the life of this 13th Assembly. He will make all the necessary efforts to bring back legislation in the fall sitting.

Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair David Krutko

Mr. Premier.

Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Jim Antoine Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, our intention is to consult with all the stakeholders and all the different leaders on the recommendations of the committee and want to know whether there is support for making a major initiative. For example, in the Constitutional Political Commission, which is a very major initiative that has been there for us to consider in developing legislation. That is the main one for me, to have a complete buy-in by all the different stakeholders. If that is the case, in the time that we have now, we have already tentatively agreed to have another session in September, I have asked our technical people whether it is technically possible to draft legislation of that magnitude in the time frame that we have. It is going to be very tight. If there is a complete buy-in by all the aboriginal groups and the different stakeholders, then we will attempt to begin legislation for the future, perhaps even in September. Thank you.

Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair David Krutko

Thank you, Mr. Premier. General comments. Mr. Morin.

Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Don Morin Tu Nedhe

Just for clarification once again, Mr. Chairman. I know none of us can foretell the future, but indications are that people are looking for a political solution to Bill 15 and a companion document in order to ensure that there is a process in place to establish a new constitution for the western Arctic as well as electorial boundaries. In order to do that it means, just like we have said in our committee report, that the government has to consult, has to go and talk to the people, the stakeholders, to put this together to bring the legislation forward. I am hearing that the Premier, on behalf of his government, is totally committed to doing that, to putting that effort there. This is what I would like to know now. You know what the life of the 13th Assembly is. There is a date. What it is, I forget, but I do know that it is possible to have a Legislative Assembly sitting as late as late September, possibly early October. I am not quite sure of the dates. Are you willing to support a legislative sitting at the latest possible time in the life of this Assembly in order to get the consultation done and the legislation done, if possible?

Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Page 712

The Chair

The Chair David Krutko

Mr. Premier.

Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Jim Antoine Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, we are going to put all the effort that we can into trying to consult with aboriginal groups. We want to have a really focused approach and try to see if there is a buy-in into the recommendations that the committee put forward. If there is buy-in, we will also attempt to try to develop legislation. We will consider that. In regard to timing of the fall sitting, we tentatively had agreed that there would be a session in the early part of September. That is certainly subject to change. We have already changed dates before, so I guess it is really the will of the caucus to determine when such a sitting is going to be. If it is later, we will have to revisit our original decision to consider that and perhaps to accommodate some of the work that may be deemed to be necessary at that time. If we need the time, then perhaps we should consider that as well. Thank you.

Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair David Krutko

Thank you, Mr. Premier. General comments. Mr. Morin.