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.