Is the committee agreed?

With that, we will take a short break and continue on with those matters.

The Committee of the Whole took a short

recess.

I will call Committee of the Whole back to order. We will consider Bills 4 and 7.

At this time, I'd like to ask the Minister of Justice if he has any comments in

regard to introduction of the bill. Mr. Jackson Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr.

Chair. The

purpose of the bill — Bill 4, Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act, 2008 — is to amend various statutes of the Northwest Territories for which minor changes are proposed, or errors or inconsistencies have been identified.

Each amendment included in the bill had to meet the following criteria:

It must not be controversial;

It must not involve the spending of public funds;

It must not prejudicially affect rights; and

It must not create a new offence or subject a new class of persons to an existing offence.

Departments responsible for the various statutes being amended have reviewed and approved the changes. Most amendments proposed in Bill 4 are minor in nature, and many consist of technical corrections to a statute.

Other changes have the effect of repealing certain enactments or statutory provisions that have expired or have otherwise ceased to have effect.

The amendments are of such nature that the preparation and legislative consideration of individual bills to correct each statute would be time consuming for the government and the Legislative Assembly.

Mr.

Chair, I would like to thank the Standing

Committee on Social Programs for its review of this bill. Mahsi, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. At this time, I would like to ask the Chair of the committee which is overseeing the bill if he has any opening comments. Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Standing Committee on Social Programs met on April 25, 2008, to review Bill

4, Miscellaneous Statutes

Amendments Act, 2008.

During the clause-by-clause review, the committee passed two motions to make minor technical amendments to the bill. The Minister concurred with the amendments.

Following the clause-by-clause review, a motion was carried to report Bill

4, as amended and

reprinted, to the Assembly as ready for Committee of the Whole.

This concludes the committee's general comments on Bill 4. Individual committee members may have questions or comments as we proceed.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. At this time, I'd like to ask the Minister if he would be bringing any witnesses into the House.

Yes, I will.

Does committee agree that the Minister brings in his witnesses?

Agreed. Sergeant-at-Arms, escort the witnesses in. Mr.

Minister, can you introduce your witness,

please?

Mahsi, Mr. Chair. I have with me here today to introduce Bill 4 Mark Aitken, director of the legislation division.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Welcome, Mr. Aitken.

General comments. Are there any general comments? The floor is open to general comments. Is the committee agreed we go into detail?

Agreed. Tab 4 in the grey binders. Bill 4, Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act. Clause 1.

Clauses 1 through 20 inclusive approved.

The bill as a whole.

Bill 4 as a whole approved.

Does the committee agree that Bill 4 is ready for third reading?

Bill 4 as a whole approved for third reading.

Thank you, Mr. Minister, witness. Sergeant-at-Arms, escort the witness out.

Bill 7, Securities Act. It's in tab 7 of your grey binder.

I'd like to ask the Minister of Justice, the Hon. Jackson Lafferty, to introduce the bill.

Mahsi, Mr.

Chair. I'm

pleased to appear before the committee today to review Bill 7, a new Securities Act.

The present Securities Act is outdated and inadequate to address the many changes that have occurred — particularly in recent years — in the capital markets and the regulation of those markets in Canada since it was enacted.

The lack of harmonized legislation has been identified as a significant weakness in the current regulation of securities trading in Canada.

Cross-border trading in securities is now the rule rather than the exception. Securities legislation that is not uniform or harmonized leads to inefficiencies in the raising of capital, and inconsistent and unequal protection for investors.

In 2004 an inter-provincial Memorandum of Understanding was developed with a goal of improving securities regulations in Canada.

The MOU established a Council of Ministers responsible for securities regulations and identified several key objectives, the most important of which are:

•

the implementation of a passport system,

where an issuer or a registrant need only deal with the primary regulator and comply with the laws of that regulator’s jurisdiction in order to operate in any or all other provinces and territories; and

•

the harmonization of securities legislation, in particular to improve enforcement, investor protection and inter-jurisdictional cooperation.

The Council of Ministers identified a wide range of recommended changes to securities legislation to support the passport system and to strengthen the coordinated national system of regulation in Canada. As the scope of these amendments grew, it became clear that it would be easier to accommodate these improvements within a new act, rather than in an amendment to the current legislation.

Officials in Prince Edward Island, Nunavut and Yukon drew the same conclusion in respect of their legislation. This led to the idea that the four jurisdictions should join forces to develop a uniform-model act that would include all of the measures proposed by the Council of Ministers that are suitable for smaller Canadian jurisdictions.

They began with model legislation that had been developed by the securities regulators from all of the provinces and territories and that had been completed in 2003. The Council of Ministers Task Force supported them in their work. A request for public comments on a Northwest Territories version of the model was circulated last fall. P.E.I. and Yukon did likewise with their versions.

Few comments were expected, given the objective is harmonization with laws already applicable to the industry in other jurisdictions. There were several minor suggestions, all of which were addressed in the bill.

A new act has now been enacted in P.E.I. and Yukon. In Nunavut a bill to enact the model is at a second reading.

The purpose of securities legislation is to facilitate the raising of capital in the private sector while providing appropriate protections and remedies for investors. A new Securities Act would not necessarily promote capital investment in the Northwest Territories, but it would remove obstacles that arise from legislation that is outdated and out of step with legislation elsewhere in Canada.

Most importantly, this bill includes new and significantly improved enforcement and investor protection measures in line with those that have been recently enacted in many provinces.

Mr.

Chair, I would like to thank the Standing

Committee on Social Programs for its review of this bill. Mahsi, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. At this time, I’d like to ask the committee responsible for overseeing this bill if they have any general comments. Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Standing Committee on Social Programs held public hearings on Bill 7, Securities Act, between April 25 and May 1, 2008. No witnesses spoke to the bill other than the Minister and his officials.

The clause-by-clause review of the bill took place on May

20, 2008. During the clause-by-clause

review, the committee passed three motions to make minor technical amendments to the bill. The Minister concurred with the amendments. Following the clause-by-clause review, a motion was carried to report Bill 7, as amended and reprinted, to the Assembly as ready for Committee of the Whole.

This concludes the committee’s general comments on Bill 7. Individual committee members may have questions or comments as we proceed. Thank you, Mr. Chair.