Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek consent to have second reading of Bill 29, An Act to Amend the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act, No. 2.

Thank you. The honourable Member is seeking consent to proceed with the second reading of Bill 29. Are there any nays?

The Chair has heard two nays. You do not have unanimous consent. Item 18, second reading of bills. Item 19, consideration in committee of the whole of bills and other matters: Tabled Document 35-14(5), Bill 1, Bill 22, Committee Report 10-14(5). By the authority given the Speaker by Motion 2-14(5), the committee of the whole is authorized to sit beyond the time of adjournment until the committee is prepared to report. Mr. Krutko is in the chair.

I would like to call committee of the whole to order. We have several items to deal with: Tabled Document 35-14(5), Bill 1, Bill 22, Committee Report 10-14(5). What is the wish of the committee? Mr. Dent.

Mr. Chairman, I would like to recommend that committee consider Bill 1 and Committee Report 10-14(5) concurrently, first of all, and then move on to consider Bill 22.

Does the committee agree?

We will begin with Bill 1, Human Rights Act, after a short adjournment.

-- Break

I would like to call committee of the whole back to order. We are dealing with Bill 1, Human Rights Act. At this time I would like to ask the Minister responsible for introducing the bill if he has any opening comments. Mr. Allen.

Mr. Chairman, in March 2000, our Legislative Assembly passed a motion calling on the Department of Justice to develop a bill for a Human Rights Act for the Northwest Territories. Bill 1 was introduced last February after broad consultations.

This past summer and fall the Standing Committee on Social Programs held its public review and made a number of improvements to the bill. I want to thank the Members of the standing committee and their staff for the hard work they have put into this important project. I am pleased to be here today as this committee begins the review of Bill 1.

Many people face discrimination in their day to day lives,. Human rights law is society's way of saying that all people should be treated with dignity and respect. Discrimination is not acceptable. People should not be treated badly because of characteristics like their gender, race or religion. Human rights legislation can also be a way to recognize that people are not always aware of discrimination and may need more information about it. People should be assisted when they confront discrimination and there should be a process to help them work through these problems.

The call for updated human rights law shows that we want to move a step closer to having a society where all people are treated with dignity and respect. Where everyone knows they have protection against discrimination regardless of personal characteristics like race, religion, gender, age, disabilities or sexual orientation.

The bill under review today is to replace the Fair Practices Act a form of human rights law developed in the mid-1960's.

Over the years, the Fair Practice Act in been updated but it still falls below the standard of Human Rights Legislation in most other provinces and territories. It fails to reflect many of the things that people of the Northwest Territories say are important today. The new Human Rights Act will be a progressive piece of legislation we can all be proud of.

The Department of Justice consulted broadly on the development of this bill. The people we heard from provided a lot of input and support. That consultation helped to shape Bill 1. In addition, after the bill was introduced a few concerns were raised. The government reviewed these concerns and as a result will be moving a few motions to Bill 1.

In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, the Human Rights Act will be an important piece of legislation for the Northwest Territories. It signifies our recognition of the importance of tolerance, dignity and respect and the commitment to uphold these principles. I look forward to our discussion today. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Allen. At this time I would like to ask the committee responsible for reviewing the bill if they have any comments. Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As you know our comprehensive report has already been read into the record but we do have and are pleased to offer the following comments on Bill 1, Human Rights Act.

Bill 1 is a step forward for human rights protection in the Northwest Territories because it creates a comprehensive legislative scheme to address discrimination in everyday areas of life.

Bill 1 has been the subject of extensive consultation by both the Department of Justice and our standing committee. The Standing Committee on Social Programs held public hearings in Inuvik, Fort Smith and Yellowknife. Our goal in the review process was to consider Bill 1 in comparison to other human rights legislation in other jurisdictions in Canada and to hear the comments and suggestions of members of the public.

The committee received a number of detailed submissions from many members of our communities, particularly those representing significant segments of our population. During the course of public hearings the committee heard a number of recommendations on how Bill 1 could be improved.

The Standing Committee on Social Programs carefully considered each of the recommendations made to us and as a result, Mr. Chairman, have made a number of changes to the Human Rights Act.

During our clause-by-clause review of the legislation, the committee passed a number of motions to amend Bill 1 which were discussed in detail in Committee Report 10-14(5).

Mr. Chairman, our report also noted several other recommendations that have not yet been incorporated into Bill 1. Accordingly, we have a number of motions to put forward before the honourable Members of the Legislative Assembly today as we proceed through the bill clause-by-clause.

These motions will reflect our attempt to address concerns of the public while making changes that we believe best promote the objectives of the act. We look forward to a constructive debate on these issues. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. At this time I would like to ask the Minister if he will be bringing in any witnesses.

Yes I will, Mr. Chairman.

Does committee agree?

Sergeant-at-Arms, can you escort the witnesses in?

Mr. Minister, please introduce your witnesses for the record.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am pleased to introduce Diane Buckland to my left, legislative counsel, and to my immediate right is Janis Cooper, legislative counsel, both from the Department of Justice. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Welcome witnesses. General comments with regard to Bill 1. General comments. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, in my opinion this is probably the most significant piece of legislation that this Assembly is going to deal with, and I am quite pleased that we got to this point. There has been some comment in the press lately about the consultation that has taken place on this bill and some comment about its future.

Mr. Chairman, I would like to say that I see this bill and the way this was handled as a model for an open consultative process in the development of legislation. This bill was substantially modified in the course of the two years of consultation that has taken place. As the Minister said in his opening remarks, he'll be proposing further amendments, as will the committee today be proposing further amendments to the bill based on what we heard through the public consultation process.

I have been somewhat surprised by the comment in the press because of the number of occasions for comment and the number of changes that have been incorporated to date, that there have been some people who have recently said that we are moving too quickly. I am not sure how they could not have known about opportunities to make comment over the past two years. Mr. Chairman, I am satisfied that residents had lots of opportunity to influence the final shape of this bill, and as I said we will continue to make changes today to continue to reflect the comments that we heard during the consultations.

Mr. Chairman, of course we did not accept all the recommendations that we heard while we were travelling around, but they were all considered. The committee debated all the recommendations that we heard. We discussed them with the Minister. Some were accepted and some were not. I think we have set out in our committee report the reasons for accepting or not accepting recommendations, but the report clearly lays out that we heard the recommendations.

Mr. Chairman, I am comfortable with this bill, particularly in light of what I know it will look like when we finish with it. I think it sets a very high standard and it puts us in the lead, for instance, in such things as making social condition a prohibited ground for discrimination. That is something that we will be leaders in Canada with that in our legislation. It does represent a significant improvement over the Fair Practices Act. One of the most important things in this Act is the educative role that it sets out for the Commission. This is really important. Since we have never had a comprehensive human rights bill in the past, it will be very important that we have well versed and well respected people as commissioners who are able to ensure that the public is well informed about their rights and responsibilities under this legislation, and able to make sure that Northerners are able to take advantage of the legislation once we set it in place.

As I said earlier, I am happy to be here today. This is one of the pieces of legislation that I said in the election campaign that I would work very hard to try and see in the House, so again I say that I am very happy to see us get to this point and look forward to moving through the bill on a clause by clause basis. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to follow up on Mr. Dent's remarks. It was a privilege for me as a Member of this Assembly to be associated with at least the public hearing process and hopefully the amendments and improvements in some way of this bill. It is indeed one of the strongest and most forceful signals of any jurisdiction or society of just how willing, able and committed it is to put in law the kind of standards that it wants its citizens to have to be force to protect them; but also I think it is a reflection of the responsibility that every citizen of the NWT has to look at and to follow in terms of our conduct and the way we treat each other every day.

I think one of the most significant steps that this bill takes and one of the most important things that it adds to public governance is the creation of the Human Rights Commission. I see this as something that will be a significant improvement in the way people can have issues addressed and in the way they can be remedied and resolved. I think, Mr. Chairman, that in the review that we went through and as Mr. Dent said, the kind of consultation and people who were paying attention to this and who gave comments to us, and I think to the government in its prior consultation before the bill was ever brought to he Assembly. There is flexibility and there is a recognition and sensitivity in the bill, Mr. Chairman, to the concerns especially of aboriginal people and the kind of rights and considerations that are significant to them today and that will no doubt develop in the future.

I think we all know that as we work our way through and see the passage of this bill perhaps by the end of the day today, or certainly by the end of our session, it will not mean that these new facilities and new advantages will be readily available or instantly available to people. It will take time to put into place a functioning and an operating Human Rights Commission. It will take time to have these laws implemented to the point where people can actually use them. It is my plea and my hope that government and our institutions can act to implement this new bill, once it is passed, with all due efficiency. I know of at least one case right now, Mr. Chairman, that unfortunately should be addressed as a human rights consideration but cannot be under our existing Fair Practices Act. We need this bill as soon as possible, so I look forward to engaging in the detail and further consideration. Thank you.

Thank you. General comments on Bill 1. General comments. Mr. Bell.