Clause 53.

Clause 54.

Clause 55.

Clause 56.

Clause 57.

Bill as a whole?

Does committee agree that Bill 24 is ready for third reading?

Bill 24 is now ready for third reading. I would like to thank the Minister and his witnesses for appearing.

---Applause

The chair will call a short break.

---SHORT RECESS

I would like to call Committee of the Whole back to order. We will proceed with the review of Bill 25, Municipal Statutes Replacement Act. Does the Minister have any opening comments? Mr. Steen.

Minister's Opening Comments

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yes, I do. Mr. Chairman, it gives me great pleasure to begin Committee of the Whole review of Bill 25, Municipal Statutes Replacement Act, an act that will fundamentally change and improve the way municipal governments in the Northwest Territories govern. This bill modernizes the Cities, Towns and Villages Act, the Hamlets Act and the Charter Communities Act. As many Members are aware, this bill has been under development for several years, time that was used to consult closely with community leaders and representatives, and ensure that this bill meets the needs of municipal governments across the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Chairman, the overall intent of this bill is to provide municipal governments with a legislative framework that describes in broad strokes their roles and responsibilities. We wanted to move away from the current prescriptive list of duties and powers in order to provide municipal governments with the tools they need to effectively address current issues and plan for the ongoing evolution of government in the Northwest Territories. These amendments respond to request for change from Northwest Territories municipal governments and will put into place modern municipal governance legislation that is consistent with that in other jurisdictions across Canada.

Some highlights of this bill include:

• • a new section setting out the purpose of municipal corporations;
• • broader bylaw-making powers by using "spheres of jurisdiction;"
• • limitations on municipal liability for certain matters and activities, such as public utilities and roads;
• • simpler requirements for financial statements; and,
• • increased accountabilities to residents.

Mr. Chairman, the Charter Communities Act, the Hamlets Act and the Cities, Towns and Villages Act are very similar to each other. People have noted that the three settlements in the Northwest Territories are not included as the legislation governing them, the Settlements Act, is not in this package. Mr. Chairman, the Settlements Act is a very different piece of legislation. For example, settlements do not have bylaw-making powers, unlike other municipal governments. Because of this difference, combined with the shortness of time and the limited resources available, it was decided to complete the Settlements Act after the other three acts had been drafted. Mr. Chairman, I want to take this opportunity to assure the Members that work is well underway, but because the Settlements Act is based on a fundamentally different system of governance, drafting on it began after the work on the legislation for cities, towns and villages, hamlets and charter communities, which are all very similar. However, Mr. Chairman, I am confident that comprehensive amendments to the Settlements Act will be ready for consideration by Members of the 15th Legislative Assembly as they determine their legislative agenda.

Mr. Chairman, we consulted regularly on this legislation, particularly with municipal governments, the Northwest Territories Association of Communities and the Local Government Administrators of the Northwest Territories, the organization which represents senior administrative officers. Throughout these consultations, one theme came out very clearly: municipal governments want this legislation because it provides them with the tools they need to face the opportunities and challenges coming in our future. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Minister Steen. The chair will call on the chairman of the standing committee responsible for the bill, Mr. Roland.

Standing Committee On Governance And Economic Development Comments

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the Standing Committee on Governance and Economic Development did a number of public hearings on this, starting in late August and into September and then finally doing clause by clause here in Yellowknife on October 1st. There were 52 motions to amend the bill which were carried by committee and concurred with by the Minister.

Mr. Chairman, a few other highlights that I'd like to put out here before we get into future detail is the issue the Minister just mentioned in the area of settlements. The committee felt strongly enough that we prepared a committee motion to that effect.

Another major concern throughout these changes were in the area of the liabilities and a number of changes to help reduce the liability concerns for communities and how they would be impacted by insurance and the premiums. Committee had some discussion around that in trying to ensure there was a fair balance between protecting municipalities and limiting your liability, as well as ensuring that residents of the territory had a fair opportunity to address their concerns if they felt they were injured or a mishap has occurred that was due to the poor upkeep of municipal infrastructure or roads in the community. So there was some discussion about that, and committee felt that with the discussion with the NWTAC personnel we felt that we could agree with what was brought forward.

One of the other things that was fairly contentious initially was the employees on council. Committee did not agree with the bill as it came forward which would have allowed employees of councils to be elected members. Upon the public hearing process and hearing from different mayors and those responsible for community leadership and hearing that they too were of that opinion, we did manage to work with the Minister and again remove that section with the Minister's concurrence.

One of the other areas that was a concern to committee Members was the initial bill came forward with the market disruption policy, and the committee had a fair bit of discussion back and forth on this about the merits of why that would be in the bill. Without hearing a good reason as to why it would be put forward, we've discussed with the Minister and we had his concurrence as we passed six motions that removed that from the section of the bill. Committee Members felt that the existing situations that are now used by municipalities are adequate.

There were a number of other amendments that were not very big, but there were a few of them and because of the way the act is done up meant for a lot of amendments. So that took a fair bit of time.

But committee feels generally as we bring this forward that it's been a long time in coming. We heard from the Association of Communities that much work has been done with their leaders and councils on that area, and felt that this is needed and it's good to see it come forward. So we look forward to bringing this to conclusion and hopefully bringing it to third reading in the last days of this Assembly.

Before I close, Mr. Chairman, I did mention about the committee motions and I would like to move a committee motion at this time.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. The chair will wait until the motion has been circulated. The motion has now been circulated to all Members. The motion is in order. To the motion.