Agreed.
Debates of March 7th, 2001
This is page numbers 1597 - 1638 of the Hansard for the 14th Assembly, 3rd 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 women.
Topics
Committee Motion 47-14(3): To Amend The Schedule (total Supplementary Appropriation) Of Bill 20: Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 2, 2000-2001 (carried)
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1634
Some Hon. Members
Committee Motion 47-14(3): To Amend The Schedule (total Supplementary Appropriation) Of Bill 20: Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 2, 2000-2001 (carried)
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1634
Committee Motion 47-14(3): To Amend The Schedule (total Supplementary Appropriation) Of Bill 20: Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 2, 2000-2001 (carried)
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1634
Some Hon. Members
Agreed.
Committee Motion 47-14(3): To Amend The Schedule (total Supplementary Appropriation) Of Bill 20: Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 2, 2000-2001 (carried)
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1634
Committee Motion 47-14(3): To Amend The Schedule (total Supplementary Appropriation) Of Bill 20: Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 2, 2000-2001 (carried)
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1634
Some Hon. Members
Agreed.
Committee Motion 47-14(3): To Amend The Schedule (total Supplementary Appropriation) Of Bill 20: Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 2, 2000-2001 (carried)
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1634
Committee Motion 47-14(3): To Amend The Schedule (total Supplementary Appropriation) Of Bill 20: Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 2, 2000-2001 (carried)
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1634
Some Hon. Members
Agreed.
Committee Motion 47-14(3): To Amend The Schedule (total Supplementary Appropriation) Of Bill 20: Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 2, 2000-2001 (carried)
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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The Chair David Krutko
Bill 20 is now ready for third reading as amended. I would like to thank the Minister and his witnesses.
The next bill that we will deal with is Bill 21, An Act to Amend the Labour Standards Act. At this time, I would like to ask the Minister if he has any opening comments?
Committee Motion 47-14(3): To Amend The Schedule (total Supplementary Appropriation) Of Bill 20: Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 2, 2000-2001 (carried)
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Jim Antoine Nahendeh
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I do have opening remarks on Bill 21, the Labour Standards Act. Mr. Chairman, this bill would bring the parental leave provisions in the Labour Standards Act in line with recent changes to the federal Employment Insurance Program.
The Government of Canada amended the Employment Insurance Act to provide increased parental leave benefits for natural and adoptive parents of children who were born or placed for adoption after December 31, 2000.
Under the federal program, the parents of a natural or adopted child can now obtain parental leave benefit payments for up to 35 weeks after a two-week waiting period. This is in addition to pregnancy leave benefits, which are available for 15 weeks after a two-week waiting period.
However, the changes to the Employment Insurance Act do not require employers to extend the time period of unpaid parental leave that they must grant to employees.
In the Northwest Territories, the Labour Standards Act, or in the case of federal works and undertakings the Canada Labour Code, governs minimum standards regarding the length of unpaid leave that an employer must grant for employees in the private sector.
Currently under the Labour Standards Act and Pregnancy and Parental Leave Regulations, an employer must provide an employee with up to 17 consecutive weeks of unpaid pregnancy leave if she has been working for the employer for 12 consecutive months and she gives at least four weeks notice.
In addition, an employer must provide an employee with up to 12 consecutive weeks of unpaid parental leave if he or she has been working for the employer for 12 consecutive months and he or she gives the employer at least four weeks notice. This leave can be taken to care for either a natural or an adopted child. It must be taken within a year of the birth of the child or within a year of the child being placed for adoption in the employee's home.
The Labour Standards Act requires the employer to reinstate the employee to his or her position or a comparable position after the pregnancy or parental leave. All provinces and territories except Saskatchewan, Nunavut and the Yukon have passed legislation to extend the time period for unpaid parental leave.
Bill 21 would extend the period of time that employers must grant as parental leave from 12 to 37 weeks. This would help parents in the Northwest Territories to take full advantage of financial benefits now provided by the federal government.
The transitional provisions in the bill would allow eligible employees to extend their parental leave, or go back on parental leave, so they would also be able to get the benefit of the federal program. Under Bill 21, eligible employees would have to provide their employers with three weeks of notice to extend their parental leave.
During its review of the bill, the Standing Committee on Social Programs suggested that this should be changed to four weeks to match the four weeks notice that employees must give in order to take parental leave in the first place.
Bill 21 would also allow some people to go back on parental leave if their leave has expired or if they do not have enough time to give the four weeks notice. The bill gives people only two weeks from the date it comes into effect to provide their employers with notice that they will be going back on parental leave.
During its review of the bill, the standing committee suggested that employees should be allowed four weeks to provide their employers with notice instead of two weeks, so that employees will have enough time to find out about the amendment. I agree with the committee's two suggestions, so later I will be making motions that support these changes.
Mr. Chairman, Bill 21 supports this government's policies on healthy families. It will enable infants in a number of families to be cared for by their own parents during the first year of life. The bill also promotes the well-being of children who are adopted. It will assist in stronger bonding of adopted children and their parents because adoptive parents would be entitled to the same period of parental leave as their parents.
In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, I think the amendments proposed in this bill will benefit a lot of families in the Northwest Territories. I would like to thank the members of the Standing Committee on Social Programs for their timely review and their helpful comments. Mahsi, Mr. Chairman.
Committee Motion 47-14(3): To Amend The Schedule (total Supplementary Appropriation) Of Bill 20: Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 2, 2000-2001 (carried)
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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The Chair David Krutko
Thank you, Mr. Minister. Does the committee reviewing this bill have any comments? Mr. Miltenberger.
Committee Motion 47-14(3): To Amend The Schedule (total Supplementary Appropriation) Of Bill 20: Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 2, 2000-2001 (carried)
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Michael Miltenberger Thebacha
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Standing Committee on Social Programs met on Monday, March 5, 2001 to review Bill 21, An Act to Amend the Labour Standards Act. The amendment changes provisions of the Northwest Territories Labour Standards Act so its territorial residents can access the maximum amount of time off available under the federal employment insurance maternity benefits. In short, it makes territorial legislation compatible with federal legislation. Similar amendments have been passed in the majority of other Canadian jurisdictions to accomplish the same thing. Members of the committee had no concerns with the intent of the bill. Committee Members did have concerns with timing and transition issues on the implementation of the bill. The committee recommended that employees who planned to extend or recommence their leave to take advantage of the longer benefits and leave periods be required to give employers four weeks instead of three weeks notice of their intent.
In addition, committee members were concerned that the requirement to give such notice within two weeks of the act coming into force did not allow for sufficient time for the department to notify the general public of the changes to the leave provisions and recommended that this be increased to four weeks. The committee was pleased that the Minister agreed with the Members and that he will be introducing amendments to address our concerns. Individual members of the committee may have questions or comments for the Minister as we proceed. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Committee Motion 47-14(3): To Amend The Schedule (total Supplementary Appropriation) Of Bill 20: Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 2, 2000-2001 (carried)
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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The Chair David Krutko
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Is the Minister going to be bringing in any witnesses?
Committee Motion 47-14(3): To Amend The Schedule (total Supplementary Appropriation) Of Bill 20: Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 2, 2000-2001 (carried)
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Jim Antoine Nahendeh
Yes.
Committee Motion 47-14(3): To Amend The Schedule (total Supplementary Appropriation) Of Bill 20: Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 2, 2000-2001 (carried)
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Committee Motion 47-14(3): To Amend The Schedule (total Supplementary Appropriation) Of Bill 20: Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 2, 2000-2001 (carried)
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Some Hon. Members
Agreed.
Committee Motion 47-14(3): To Amend The Schedule (total Supplementary Appropriation) Of Bill 20: Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 2, 2000-2001 (carried)
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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The Chair David Krutko
Sergeant-at-Arms, can you escort the witnesses in, please? Mr. Minister, for the record, can you please introduce your witnesses?
Committee Motion 47-14(3): To Amend The Schedule (total Supplementary Appropriation) Of Bill 20: Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 2, 2000-2001 (carried)
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 is Janis Cooper, the acting director of policy and planning. To my left is Diane Buckland, legislative counsel. Thank you.
Committee Motion 47-14(3): To Amend The Schedule (total Supplementary Appropriation) Of Bill 20: Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 2, 2000-2001 (carried)
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Committee Motion 47-14(3): To Amend The Schedule (total Supplementary Appropriation) Of Bill 20: Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 2, 2000-2001 (carried)
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Sandy Lee Range Lake
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I just want to make a short statement to thank the Minister and the members and chair of the Social Programs Committee for moving with such speed and resolve to introduce this and to get this bill through during the life of this session.
I think we should look into seeing if we have broken any records in terms of the speed of the bill being introduced here. I think all the work was done within a week to ten days.
I appreciate this because it is a concern that a constituent of mine brought to my attention at the beginning of the session. I know that while all Members in this House had to work together to get this bill through, I am sure my constituent will be pretty impressed with my effectiveness.
I would just like to really thank the Minister and members for getting this job done. I think this should serve as an example where all the Members of this House could work really well together to do a good thing for the people. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
-- Applause
Committee Motion 47-14(3): To Amend The Schedule (total Supplementary Appropriation) Of Bill 20: Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 2, 2000-2001 (carried)
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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The Chair David Krutko
Thank you, Ms. Lee. General comments. Detail. You should say clause by clause.
Committee Motion 47-14(3): To Amend The Schedule (total Supplementary Appropriation) Of Bill 20: Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 2, 2000-2001 (carried)
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Some Hon. Members
Clause by clause.
Committee Motion 47-14(3): To Amend The Schedule (total Supplementary Appropriation) Of Bill 20: Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 2, 2000-2001 (carried)
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Committee Motion 47-14(3): To Amend The Schedule (total Supplementary Appropriation) Of Bill 20: Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 2, 2000-2001 (carried)
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Some Hon. Members
Hear, hear.
Committee Motion 47-14(3): To Amend The Schedule (total Supplementary Appropriation) Of Bill 20: Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 2, 2000-2001 (carried)
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Committee Motion 47-14(3): To Amend The Schedule (total Supplementary Appropriation) Of Bill 20: Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 2, 2000-2001 (carried)
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Some Hon. Members
Agreed.