Thank you, Mr. Handley. To the principle of the bill. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I was going through the Hansard I mentioned earlier today, in 1994, the Minister appearing with his witness the deputy minister, was Mr. Kakfwi and Mr. Handley at the time. There was comment then about there having been three years since the promise had been made of a comprehensive review.

We have an awful lot of work to do at the self-government tables. Will we manage to get through to the point where the wildlife review is going to be concluded in the next year? I am not confident that that will happen. This process has dragged on for a long time. I know that there have been a number of issues raised today by Members that I would hope, if we could move it to the committee stage, that I would have an opportunity to address. I recognize that if I am not successful in addressing the issues in committee, I think I have heard loud and clear that it is not going to get any farther than that.

I am not confident that in the life of this government we will conclude the comprehensive review and see the legislation. This is an issue that has gone on since I have been elected in 1991. I would like to again urge Members to support this bill and to support sending it to the committee for consideration after second reading. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. That concludes debate on the principle of the bill. Is the House prepared for question? Question has been called. All those in favour, please signify in a very clear manner. Thank you. All those opposed? Thank you. We have a tied vote. Eight in favour, eight opposed. It falls on to the Chair to respond and to break the tie in this event. The Chair will vote in support of the bill. The motion is carried. Bill 12 has had second reading. Accordingly, the bill stands referred to a committee. Item 18, second reading of bills. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, I seek consent to proceed with second reading of Bill 13, An Act to Amend the Income Tax Act, No. 2.

Thank you. The honourable Member is seeking consent to proceed with the second reading of Bill 13. Are there any nays? There are no nays. You have consent, Mr. Handley. Please proceed.

I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, that Bill 13, An Act to Amend the Income Tax Act, No. 2, be read for the second time.

Mr. Speaker, this bill will change the income tax system in the Northwest Territories from one that calculates income tax on the amount of federal tax payable to a system that calculates tax on the amount of taxable income. This bill also makes technical changes to the act to clarify the language and to update references related to the federal act. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. We have a motion on the floor. The motion is in order. To the principle of the bill. Question has been called. All those in favour? Thank you. All those opposed? The motion is carried. Bill 13 has had second reading. Accordingly, the bill stands referred to a committee.

Item 18, second reading of bills. Item 19, consideration in committee of the whole of bills and other matters: Committee Report 5-14(4), Ministers' Statements 1-14(4), 3-14(4), 4-14(4), and Bill 2, with Mr. Delorey in the chair.

I will call committee of the whole to order. We have a number of items to discuss in committee of the whole. It has been agreed that we will deal with the report of the Special Committee on the Conflict Process, so I will turn it over to Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. You have heard the recommendations of the Special Committee on Conflict Process here today, and the committee does acknowledge that the Minister has formally requested a withdrawal of her application to have the Conflict Commissioner's investigation suspended due to a reasonable apprehension of bias.

However, Mr. Chairman, the Minister does remain convinced that the Conflict Commissioner was biased in her dealings in this matter. Mr. Chairman, I think that it is of utmost importance that the Office of the Conflict Commissioner have the confidence of both Members and the public. The allegations levelled to date have called into question this confidence, and the committee believes that it is compelled to investigate and make recommendations to this House which can clear the air.

I am hopeful that the Assembly here today will vote to adopt the recommendations of this committee. While we are cognizant of the fact that public money is being expended in this manner, we feel it is critical to restore confidence in the integrity of this institution, its Members and its statutory officers. With that, Mr. Chairman, I would like to invite Members to make comment on the report of the Special Committee on Conflict Process.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. I will open the floor to general comments. Mr. Ootes.

Mr. Chairman, the mandate of the committee is based on an application filed by the Member for Hay River South. The Member has now withdrawn her application. The committee has reported on that and is making various recommendations on page 12 of 14 in their report.

I believe the way to proceed with this would be to take each individual item -- there are five items here altogether -- and vote on each particular item on an individual basis.

In that regard, Mr. Chairman, I would move that we adopt item 1 to start with, which reads that the Legislative Assembly approve the request of the Honourable Jane Groenewegen to withdraw the application as filed with the Board of Management on May 7, 2001.

I would like to make that motion, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Ootes, can you please repeat your motion for clarification?

Yes, Mr. Chairman, I believe that there are five items to be dealt with here. I believe if we take each individual item on an individual motion basis and in that regard, I made the motion for item 1, that the Legislative Assembly approve the request of the Honourable Jane Groenewegen to withdraw the application as filed with the Board of Management on May 7, 2001.

Point of order, Mr. Miltenberger.

Mr. Chairman, I understood that we were in committee to look at this report, but to allow some time for general comments. There has been a lot of discussion going on here, but we have not had a chance to have any general comments or discussion, and we have already moved into motions.

I am feeling like we jumped to the head of the queue here. We were just trying to decide on the last vote on hunting rights and here we are voting on...

-- Interjection

...that is it, but we will tape it and get back to you.

We were open for general comments on the report. I was wondering if we could maybe keep the floor open to general comments. Then, if it is the wish of the committee, to vote on each one of these individual recommendations.

There is a motion on the floor. The motion is in order. It can be made at any time. However, we were on general comments. If the Member would indulge holding your motion until general comments are over, or if you wanted to proceed with your motion now, we can do that as well. Mr. Ootes, would you care to respond to whether you wish to hold your motion?

Mr. Chairman, I guess I was not aware that -- this is a recommendation made by the committee. I guess I feel I am in support of that particular motion. That is the reason I made the motion. If we wish to debate each individual motion, then we can debate it under that.

Mr. Ootes, do you wish your motion to go forward now? For the record, Mr. Ootes, could you read your motion again.

There is a motion on the floor. The motion is in order. To the motion. Question has been called. Premier Kakfwi.

Mr. Chairman, it is my understanding that the committee members are in support of this motion. It is my view that the first two are fairly straightforward. They are a matter of House business. It is the remaining three that I think will deserve our full attention and debate.

The first two are fairly straightforward and there appears to be sufficient support to warrant just dealing with these and then potentially...

Mr. Kakfwi, there is a motion on the floor. To the motion, please.

Yes, I am leading up to saying I therefore support the motion. It is straightforward. The members of the committee support it and I think enough of us in the Legislature have indicated support for it, so we should deal with that.