Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Standing Committee on Governance and Economic Development is pleased to report on its review of Bill 13, the Hotel Room Tax Act.
This committee report was prepared by members of the Standing Committee on Governance and Economic Development: Floyd Roland, chair; Sandy Lee, deputy chair; Bill Braden, Paul Delorey, David Krutko, and Steven Nitah.
The Minister of Finance, Joe Handley introduced Bill 13 for first reading in the Legislative Assembly on November 7, 2000. On November 8, 2000, the Hotel Tax Act received second reading on the principle of the bill by a narrow margin of a 10 to 8 vote. The bill was referred to the Standing Committee on Governance and Economic Development. Under the Rules of the Legislative Assembly, the standing committee has 120 days to review and report on the bill.
The standing committee met on several occasions to discuss and review the background research material and legal issues. The committee also conducted public hearings on Bill 13 during the week of February 5 to 9, 2001 in Inuvik, Hay River, and Yellowknife.
Prior to the hearings, the committee placed advertisements in every newspaper in the Northwest Territories informing the public of the committee's review, inviting oral presentations and written submissions and advising that applications for travel assistance would be considered by the committee. Public service announcements were also aired on northern radio stations and notices were placed on community television channels, where available. Media advisories were sent advising the press where hearings would be held. The committee also provided packages with detailed explanatory material about Bill 13 and an offer of assistance to appear before the committee to over 200 identified interested parties.
The Standing Committee on Governance and Economic Development would like to thank all of the individuals and organizations who made their views known to the committee at the public hearings or by written submissions. The comments and suggestions were of great assistance to the committee and were carefully reviewed by the committee during its deliberations.
Appendix 1 to this report contains a list of witnesses who appeared before the committee. Appendix 2 is a list of the individuals or organizations that provided written submissions, which were received and considered by the committee. Copies of submissions and/or transcripts from the public hearings are available upon request.