Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Health and Social Service.

Can the Minister please state any and all cases where they had paid for out-of-country medical care for a resident of the Northwest Territories?

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Written questions. Returns to written questions. Replies to opening address. Petitions. Reports of standing and special committees. Reports of committees on the review of bills. Tabling of documents. Honourable Minister responsible for Justice, Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Tabling of documents. Notices of motion. The honourable Member from Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Monday, October 30th, 2006, I will move the following motion: Now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Monfwi, that this Assembly strongly recommends the Department of Education, Culture and Employment change the maximum percentage of income that can be charged as rent for social housing from 32 percent to 18 percent for non-market communities and from 32 percent to 25 percent for communities with a rental and private housing market; and further that the NWT Housing Corporation do a better job in explaining their homeownership programs and in adjusting these programs to meet the needs of potential clients; and furthermore that the NWT Housing Corporation examine the issue of rental rates for those units that are old or in poor condition and provide clear direction to the local housing authorities on how to calculate condition discounts in calculating rent; and furthermore that the issue of free rent for seniors living in housing owned by the NWT Housing Corporation be re-examined and addressed in the interest of fairness to all seniors; and furthermore that the Department of Justice recognize that a rental officer based in Yellowknife may not meet the needs of all territorial residents and consider the need for this office to have a regional presence. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Notices of motion. Notices of motion for first reading of bills. Motions. First reading of bills. Second reading of bills. Consideration in Committee of the Whole of bills and other matters: Bills 13, 15, 16, 17 and 20, with Mr. Pokiak in the chair.

Good afternoon, committee. I'll call Committee of the Whole to order. We have a number of items to discuss today. What is the wish of the committee? Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Chair. The Members wish to consider Bill 16, An Act to Amend the Jury Act, and Bill 20, An Act to Amend the Income Tax Act. Mahsi, Chair.

Does committee agree?

We shall resume after a short break.

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Good afternoon. I will now call Committee of the Whole back to order. At this time I would like to ask the Minister responsible for changes with Bill 16, Mr. Brendan Bell. Does the Minister have opening remarks? Mr. Bell.

I do. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I am pleased to present Bill 16, An Act to Amend the Jury Act.

This bill makes amendments to the Jury Act to provide the sheriff access to names and addresses of people over the age of 18 from health care plan registration information for the purpose of compiling a list of jurors. These amendments are necessary because provisions of the new Elections and Plebiscites Act no longer permit the sharing of elector lists to compile juror lists.

As Members know, the right to trial by jury is fundamental to our system of justice. The sheriff must have reliable and current data to work with when compiling a list of jurors.

The sheriff's office lacks the human and financial resources necessary to create and update lists of prospective jurors through a door-to-door enumeration. The Government of the Northwest Territories already collects names and addresses of NWT residents through registration for the NWT health care plan. Health and Social Services can provide the sheriff with just the names and addresses of individuals over 18 years of age. All other information, including medical information, would not be provided.

This approach is used elsewhere in Canada. Five other jurisdictions use health care plan registration data to compile jury lists. The proposed amendment upholds this government's commitment to respect and protect the privacy of personal information, while also providing a cost-effective means to generate jury lists.

The Department of Health and Social Services worked with the Department of Justice in the development of this bill and supports the amendment.

I will be pleased to answer questions the Members may have. Thank you.

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

I would. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you. Can the Sergeant-at-Arms please escort the witnesses in? Does committee agree?

I'd like to ask the Sergeant-at-Arms to bring the witnesses in, please.

Thank you. Can the Minister introduce the witnesses, please.

Mr. Chairman, thank you. With me today, Colin Gordon, director of court services, also Janis Cooper, legislative counsel. Thank you.

Thank you. General comments. Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just a couple of aspects of this bill. I speak in support of it. So we're changing, I guess, the resource or the data pool for names of potential jurors from the voters list to the health care plan. Is this bill potentially going to be an improvement in this data, Mr. Chairman? Will the courts have potentially more names and more current names than the voters list provided, Mr. Chairman?

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Minister.

Mr. Chairman, the voters list is not updated as frequently as this information will be, so we think we'll have more up-to-date, accurate information, so that should improve this, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Bell. Mr. Braden.