Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Minister also said earlier that the office space and the turning of the patient lounge into office space on the surgery ward was in fact temporary, as he had mentioned, and I'd like to get the Minister's definition of temporary and how long that patient lounge area is going to be used or utilized as office space. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, once we looked at putting a proposal forward into the workspace fund that we'd be able to try to get something on that, I don't have a timeline at this point. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Time for question period has expired. Written questions. Returns to written questions. Replies to opening address. Petitions. Reports of committees on the review of bills. Tabling of documents. The honourable Minister responsible for Justice, Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document entitled Eighteenth Annual Report of the Victims' Assistance Committee of the Northwest Territories, April 1st, 2006 to March 31st, 2007. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Tabling of documents. The honourable Minister responsible for Human Resources, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Tabling of documents. The honourable Member from Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to table a document. The document is a petition called the Fluoride Action Network. It was released on August 9th, 2007, and it's a signed petition by over 600 professionals with their concern regarding the use of fluoridation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Tabling of documents. The honourable Member from Monfwi, Mr. Lafferty.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have 37 letters signed by students and parents from the community of Gameti on the Gameti school addition concerns. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Tabling of documents. Pursuant to section 21 of the Legislative Assembly Retiring Allowances Act, I wish to table Legislative Assembly Retiring Allowance Fund Financial Statements for the Year Ended March 31st, 2007.

In accordance with section 21(1) of the Retiring Allowances Act and section 11.1 of the Supplementary Retiring Allowances Act, I hereby table the Pension Administration Report, Retiring Allowances Act and Supplementary Retiring Allowances Act, as at March 31st, 2007.

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, 14 and 19. By the authority given me as Speaker by Motion 9-15(6), 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.

Good afternoon, Members. I call Committee of the Whole to order. What is the wish of the committee this afternoon? Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, the committee wishes to consider Bill 13, Change of Name Act; Bill 14, Employment Standards Act; and Bill 19, An Act to Amend the Student Financial Assistance Act. Mahsi, Madam Chair.

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

Thank you. We'll do that after a short break.

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Thank you. I would like to call committee of the Whole to order. The first order of business is dealing with Bill 13, Change of Name Act. I would like to ask the Minister responsible for the Department of Health and Social Services, Mr. Roland, to please introduce the bill.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am pleased to introduce Bill 13, Change of Name Act. This bill replaces the current Change of Name Act.

The bill transfers administrative responsibility for change of name from the court to the registrar general of vital statistics, Department of Health and Social Services. This change will give NWT residents the ability to request a legal change of name through an administrative process that is easy to understand and follow, similar to that in other Canadian jurisdictions.

In keeping with the Human Rights Act of the Northwest Territories, and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, provisions in the bill give equal rights to both married and common-law spouses to assume their spouse's name without application under the act. These provisions are important to avoid discrimination against those in common-law relationships, including spouses in same-sex unions.

Applications involving children will be more efficient and economical. An applicant can jointly request that the names of minor children also be changed rather than having to submit separate applications for each child. Any application to change the name of a minor child will require the consent of the other parents, and an application to the Supreme Court will be necessary to dispense with this consent if doing so would be in the best interest of the child.

The bill also provides for two levels of appeal if an applicant or any person wishes to object or appeal a decision made by the registrar general, including an opportunity to appeal to the court if necessary.

This bill includes stricter measures to address identity theft and other security concerns to bring the act in line with current and emerging practices in other jurisdictions. For example, name changes will be published in the Northwest Territories Gazette, and notification of name changes will be given to authorities such as the RCMP. The bill defines acceptable identification for determining the identity of an applicant, and applicants will be required to surrender certain identification with their application to reduce the changes of individuals having primary identification in more than one name. There are also provisions that will allow confidential name changes to protect the safety of certain applicants.

That concludes my opening remarks. I would be pleased to answer any questions Members may have.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. I will now ask Ms. Lee, chairperson for the Social Programs committee, the committee that reviewed the bill, to provide committee's comments on the bill. Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Standing Committee on Social Programs conducted hearings on Bill 13, Change of Name Act, between June 6 and June 15, 2007. Combined with the Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight members, the committee split into northern and southern groups seeking input from as many communities as possible within this time frame. Meetings took place in Fort Smith, Hay River, Jean Marie River, Fort Simpson, Yellowknife, Behchoko, Gameti, Tulita, Tsiigehtchic and Inuvik. The clause-by-clause review with the Minister took place on August 13, 2007. The committee would like to thank all participants for their contributions during these meetings, and the Minister of Health and Social Services and his staff for providing this bill.

Bill 13 will replace the existing Change of Name Act. Similar to other Canadian jurisdictions, legal name changes will be possible through an administrative process rather than a court process. People will be able to change their name by applying to the registrar general of vital statistics of the Department of Health and Social Services. The bill includes provisions for which documents are admissible for the determination of the identity of an applicant. Certain identification documents have to be surrendered with an application to reduce the chances of an individual having primary identification in more than one name. Once approved by the registrar, the name will be entered in the change of name register. Notices will be published and certain authorities like the RCMP, the courts and the maintenance enforcement office will be notified. These measures address identity theft and other security concerns.

The bill also gives equal rights to both married and common-law spouses, as defined in section 1 of the Family Law Act, to assume their spouse's name without application under the act. The committee understands that applications involving young children will become more efficient.

During the community hearings, committee heard from more than one person who experienced problems when trying to revert back to their original name after government had caused a name change in the past. For example, John Itsi, a Tsiigehtchic resident, expressed his frustration with the process. "Since I was a child, I have had my name changed four times by the government. Every time I try to get them to change it, different bureaucrats go and check that person and go and check that other person and you get fed up talking with different people. You are phoning all the time and you have to pay to phone. They write you letters and ask for your original birth certificate, which you can't find and they want $250 to change my name. They are the ones who changed my name. They should give me back my original name for nothing."

Section 20 of the proposed bill gives the registrar the discretionary power to waive fees and the committee encourages the government to make it a practice to do so if the government caused the original name change.

Mr. Chair, this concluded the committee's opening comments on Bill 13. Individual members may have questions and comments as we proceed. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Ms. Lee. Now I would like to ask the Minister if he would like to bring in witnesses.

Yes, Mr. Chairman.