Thank you, Mr. Chairman. First of all, I would like to ask the Minister a question for clarification if I could. Could the Minister tell the House whether or not gay people may now under our laws, and do now under our laws, adopt children in the Northwest Territories?

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Mr. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the sexual orientation of an individual wishing to adopt is not a criteria. It is not asked, it is not an issue that is raised. The concern more is with the home, that there is going to be a good solid home environment and all the things that a young child needs to grow up in terms of the love, support and all of the other attendant values that are there. The issue of sexual orientation is not on the application. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So an adoption worker may not even ask the question during a personal interview about the sexual orientation of an applicant to adopt, is that correct?

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Mr. Miltenberger.

That is correct, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. If it comes to the adoption worker's attention through some other means that the person applying to adopt is homosexual, that may not be used as a disqualifying criteria for further adoption, is that correct?

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As I indicated, it is not a criteria either for qualification or disqualification.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. If under our current laws a gay person may already adopt, what is the purpose for this legislation?

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The purpose of the legislation is to allow couples that latitude. It also gives people in same-sex relationships -- it will legally afford them rights that they are not now eligible for in terms of division of property, spousal support, the right to seek a restraining order, as well as the issue of adoption. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I knew the answers to those questions before I asked them, but I wanted to make sure that we had this on the public record because I think there has been some confusion. I know that from some of the letters and calls I have had about this issue I do not think people understood that gay people may right now, and probably have in the Northwest Territories, adopt children. This is really an issue of, say, a natural mother may want her partner to become the adopted parent of a child. I think that, as several others have said and as I was on the record in the last Assembly of saying, that this is the right way to move.

I do not really have a lot to add to what others have said. I think the Premier was very eloquent in how he brought the issue forward. I just wanted to make sure that everyone understood that this does not create new rights for somebody to start adopting that were not there before. This is something that has been allowed for some time since the Charter of Rights and Freedoms was adopted in Canada. We have had to follow the same laws here. This just helps provide, hopefully, a better family unit for some of the children that are in adopted families in the Northwest Territories. Mr. Chairman, I will be supporting this legislation. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just recently we went through a process of changing an act, the Wildlife Act. This government spent thousands and thousands of dollars consulting people across the North, talking to everybody that would attend their meetings, listening to them, asking about their concerns regarding animals in the North. But we cannot give the same consideration when we talk about people's lives. During the first and second reading I opposed this bill because of the process. I stated that it was flawed. There was no room for aboriginal people to make comment, and through the normal process there should have been an avenue, at least by the Social Programs committee, for the general public to have a say in it. I would have thought, and I had expected, this committee to hear from the people of the North and to hear their positions.

In my opinion, the Minister and the chairman of the Social Programs committee should apologize to the native people of the North for the disservice that they are doing.

As Mr. Krutko has said, the majority of children in foster care right now and the majority of children that are being adopted are aboriginal. We are speaking of rights and we are speaking of liability with no consideration for the aboriginal people. For years the aboriginal people have been saying that they do not want their children going out of the Northwest Territories. For years they have been saying they do not want their children adopted by non-aboriginal families.

We have not heard them, I do not believe, because we are not giving them any consideration. It was my expectation that the committee would have heard a request from the aboriginal people for a special provision for them, but there is not any. There is no avenue for them to submit that. There is really not even an approval process or a consultation process for the different bands that these children will belong to.

We all know and we hear. As an MLA I have experienced now many, many times children that were adopted out to non-aboriginal families and left the North, a lot of them -- I am not saying all of them -- but a lot of them now are coming back, or we are having to track them, and they ended up in very sad situations. Maybe we should study that before we act on new legislation. I cannot support this bill and I still believe the process is flawed. I have stated it during second reading and I continue to state it. I think there is a real important part of our whole consensus government, as we call it, being skipped here. Why, I do not know. Is it because the committee feels that only Yellowknife should be consulted? I do not believe so and I cannot support this bill the way it has been presented and handled. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. General comments. Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I will not be supporting this bill. I did not support it at first and I did not support it at second and I did not support it in the committee and I will not support it again today. I do concur with many of the comments that have been made here today by my colleagues, particularly those who have spoken against this piece of legislation. I am reluctant to say a lot more because I feel that unfortunately what I have said previously has been taken and twisted and reported out of context, so I am reluctant to venture into a lot of commentary on this bill. I do strongly oppose it. I also want to thank my colleagues who have, knowing that we are probably in the minority on this, still taken the position that they have and spoken very passionately to the issue. I do not think we can stop this from proceeding, but for the record, Mr. Chairman, I want to say that I am opposed to this legislation. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. General comments. Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just have some brief comments. I would like to thank all the Members for their interesting comments which I will let stand on their own. I am not going to seek to address them. I do want to point out just a couple of things. This is an important issue which is why it is in this House and why we, as legislators, are moving on this and will make a decision. I would also like to point out, for the record, that in the Family Law Act and in the Adoption Act there are built-in provisions for consultation, for plan of care committees, for consultation should aboriginal children be taken into care and moves or adoptions planned, to consult and to involve the appropriate aboriginal governments in the decision making and the families.

This was deliberately done, Mr. Chairman, and I was on the Social Programs Committee when we took this act around, as my colleague, Mr. Roland, mentioned. We have learned from the lessons of the past. There is no intent to remove children at all whenever possible from their communities or their families, and we do not want to have children totally removed and put into institutions until they become adults and then turned onto the street with no support.

This issue is a legislative one and as the Premier eloquently pointed out, we have a duty and in our opinion, in my opinion, to resolve this and this particular amendment does that. We are very cognizant and respectful of our relationship with the aboriginal governments which is why the broad main legislation has the clauses that it does to address those concerns. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Any further comments? Mr. Krutko.