Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to deal with the motion I gave notice of earlier today.

The Member is seeking unanimous consent to deal with the motion he gave notice of today and waive Rule 58. Are there any nays? There are no nays. You may deal with your motion, Mr. Villeneuve.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I also request unanimous consent to waive Rule 58 to allow Motion 32-15(3) to proceed today. Thank you.

The Member is seeking unanimous consent to waive Rule 58 to allow Motion 32-15(3) to proceed.

I hear a nay. Item 16, motions. Item 17, first reading of bills. Item 18, second reading of bills. Item 19, consideration in Committee of the Whole of bills and other matters: Bill 17, Modernization of Benefits and Obligations Act; Bill 20, Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 3, 2004-2005; and, Committee Report 12-15(3), Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures Report on the Review of the Report of the Chief Electoral Officer on the Administration of the 2003 General Election. By the authority given to me as Speaker by, Motion 2-15(3), I hereby resolve the House into Committee of the Whole to sit beyond the hour of adjournment until such time as the committee is ready to report progress, with Mrs. Groenewegen in the chair.

I would like to call Committee of the Whole to order. We have a number of things on our agenda. What is the wish of the committee? Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you, Madam Chair. The committee wishes to consider Bill 17, Modernization of Benefits and Obligations Act; Bill 20, Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 3, 2004-2005...(inaudible)...Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Is the committee agreed?

Thank you. We will proceed with that after we have a short break.

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I call Committee of the Whole back to order. The first thing on our agenda is Bill 17, Modernization of Benefits and Obligations Act. If the committee is agreed, then I will ask the Minister responsible for bringing this bill forward, Mr. Dent, if he would proceed with his opening remarks. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Madam Chair. We are here today to review Bill 17, Modernization of Benefits and Obligations Act.

The bill we are reviewing today does not address marriage. The Supreme Court recently confirmed that it is the exclusive responsibility of the federal government to define marriage.

A few weeks ago, the federal Justice Minister introduced the Civil Marriage Act in the House of Commons. If passed, it will extend legal capacity for civil marriage to same-sex couples while respecting religious freedom. Until this legislation is passed or there is a court decision in the Northwest Territories, the current definition of marriage in the NWT remains as a union between a man and a woman.

This bill ensures that people living in different types of spousal relationships have the same rights, benefits, duties and obligations. People who live together as a family will have the same rights, whether they are legally married or not. This bill ensures that same-sex couples will be treated the same as heterosexual common-law couples who live together in similar circumstances.

All across Canada, there have been court challenges that have resulted in courts and legislatures confirming the rights and obligations of same-sex couples. In most parts of the country, their legal status is the same as heterosexual common-law couples. These changes will ensure our legislation recognizes their rights and obligations.

This bill also amends a number of statutes to provide previously unrecognized rights and obligations to those in heterosexual common-law relationships. These will apply equally to those in same-sex relationships. In several of our statutes, references to "spouse" only include married spouses. This bill updates those references.

Finally, I would like to inform Committee of the Whole that at the appropriate time, I will bring forward amendments addressing concerns we received from Egale and making minor corrections to this bill. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Normally at this time we have the chair of the standing committee that reviewed the bill offer the committee's comments on the bill. At this time, I will ask Ms. Lee if she will read those comments for us. Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Madam Chairperson. The Standing Committee on Social Programs conducted its public review of Bill 17, Modernization of Benefits and Obligations Act, in Yellowknife on December 9, 2004, and February 16, 2005.

The committee would like to thank Egale Canada and Out North for their submissions and the Minister and his staff for presenting the bill. Bill 17 is intended primarily to remove discriminatory treatment of same-sex and heterosexual common-law couples from a number of NWT acts. The bill is similar to what has been done by other Canadian jurisdictions in response to a decision of the Supreme Court of Canada; particularly, the 1999 decision M vs. H. It does not address the definition of marriage, which is in the jurisdiction of the Parliament of Canada. The majority of NWT legislation recognizes couples who have lived together for two years or more as common-law couples. The committee noted that the Workers' Compensation Act does not recognize common-law couples unless they have lived together for three years.

This means, for example, that if a couple had been living together for 2.5 years and one of them was killed in a workplace accident, the surviving partner would not be entitled to any benefits. The committee would like to see the threshold in the Workers' Compensation Act changed to two years to be consistent with most other NWT legislation.

However, because the NWT and Nunavut share the Workers' Compensation Board, there is an agreement in place that legislation in both territories will be consistent. Therefore, it is not practical to make this change to the NWT Workers' Compensation Act without discussion with Nunavut and an agreement that they will do the same. The committee would like to encourage the government to initiate discussions with Nunavut as soon as possible to have this change made. Members do not agree that this amendment should wait for the comprehensive review of the Workers' Compensation Act, which could take several more years.

In their submissions to the committee, Egale Canada and Out North identified discriminatory provisions that were apparently overlooked in the drafting of the bill. One set of these provisions is in the Insurance Act, specifically in the schedule which refers to mandatory death benefits in motor vehicles insurance policies.

The existing wording clearly excludes same-sex couples from these benefits and is inconsistent with other amendments in Bill 17. Another set of provisions is in the Vital Statistics Act and related forms. These provisions which affect the registration of the names of the children of unmarried women assume that children have a mother and father. The act therefore does not allow for the recognition of a same-sex partner of a biological parent immediately on the birth of child.

Same-sex couples currently must use the Adoption Act to have legal recognition of a non-biological parent. There are similar issues with birth registration forms. The current death certificate forms present difficulties in that they do not recognize any common-law relationships. During the public review on December 9, 2004, the Minister committed to return with amendments for the committee's consideration to address the issues raised by Egale Canada and Out North with the Insurance Act and the Vital Statistics Act. He also committed to consult with Health and Social Services on any necessary changes to the Vital Statistics Act forms, which can be amended by regulation without requiring the approval of the Legislative Assembly.

The standing committee decided not to proceed with moving any amendments during its clause-by-clause review of Bill 17 on February 16th in order to allow for discussion of any motions in Committee of the Whole during its review of the bill in its entirety, so that all Members can participate.

Following the committee's review, the motion was carried to report Bill 17, Modernization of Benefits and Obligations Act, to the Assembly as ready for Committee of the Whole. This concludes the committee's opening comments on Bill 17. Individual Members may have additional questions or comments as we proceed. Thank you, Madam Chairperson.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. If the Minister wishes to bring witnesses at this time, does the committee agree?

Agreed. Thank you. Mr. Dent, if you would like to bring witnesses.

Yes, Madam Chairperson, I would like to have witnesses.

Thank you. I will ask the Sergeant-at-Arms if he would please escort Mr. Dent's witnesses to the witness table.

Mr. Dent, for the record, would you please introduce your witnesses.

Thank you, Madam Chairperson. With me, I have Ms. Lucy Austin, who is the executive director of the Legal Services Board; and Mr. Mark Aitken, the director of legislation division.

Thank you, Minister Dent. At this time then, we will ask if there are any general comments on Bill 17. General comments. Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Madam Chairperson. I will make my comments brief. I cannot support a bill like this. Anything that has to do with changing anything except between a man and woman, I can't agree with. I won't

compromise my principles, I don't...I understand that this bill is probably going to need to pass, otherwise there will be challenges, but in all good conscience I can't support anything like this. If it means not being in here, in the House when they are voting, then I will leave. That is all the general comments I have for now, Madam Chairperson. Thank you.