I am pleased to inform the House about the progress the Department of Justice has made to implement a new computerized personal property registry system for the Northwest Territories.
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This past December, the Governments of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut signed agreements with Unisys Canada to implement new computerized personal property registry systems for each territory. The system that has been chosen is already being used in Atlantic Canada. It has proven to be reliable and secure in those jurisdictions. Northerners will be able to use this new system with confidence.
This new registry system will allow us to proclaim the Personal Property Security Act in force. We will start training users as early as next month and it is projected that the system will be available by the end of April. Northerners who subscribe to the service will soon be able to start registering and searching security interests at their convenience from home or from their business.
A personal property registry allows various types of financing agreements to be registered. For example, Mr. Speaker, if you were interested in buying a used truck, you could search the registry to see if anyone else had a claim on that vehicle.
The current registry system is located at an office in Yellowknife. Individuals or businesses that want to record or to search financial interests in property have to come in during business hours and search the paper documents by hand. This system is time-consuming and inefficient for the government and for users.
Mr. Speaker, when fully implemented, the new personal property registry system will be a major improvement over the current paper-based system:
- • Northerners will have remote access from their own offices;
- • manual searches will be eliminated as the system is phased in;
- • searches in respect of certain items, such as motor vehicles, may be conducted by serial number;
- • users will have access to the system beyond normal office hours;
- • the system will provide improved security of information;
- • direct input of information by the users will improve the accuracy of the records; and
- • the new system brings the Northwest Territories and Nunavut in line with other Canadian provinces. It will also allow Northerners to search and register personal property in several other jurisdictions.
Mr. Speaker, the implementation of this new system requires a great deal of planning and consultation with stakeholders. In the next few months, the Department of Justice and Unisys Canada will be in touch with regular users of the registry system. Through presentations, training and the regular distributes of the newsletter, PPR News, users will be kept up-to-date on the progress of this project. I would encourage individuals or businesses that have further questions on the project to contact the legal registries office here in Yellowknife. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
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