Thank you, Mr. Chairman. You have before you Bill 13, An Act to Amend the Commissioner’s Land Act, with amendments made by the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Infrastructure and agreed to by me, I made a commitment on behalf of the department to return to the standing committee in the fall with a legislative proposal that deals solely with performance security.

The Commissioner’s Land Act is a very old statute that was derived from the Federal/Territorial Lands Act. We recognized that the act in its present form does not reflect modern day land administration principles or practices. Accordingly, the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs will begin a comprehensive review of the statute in the coming months, with the intention that a new statute be considered for the next Legislative Assembly.

In the meantime, Bill 13 is before you, which addresses some urgently needed changes to enable the act to function. The bill now contains three substantive amendments. They are: a new provision making Commissioner’s land exempt from the application of the Residential Tenancies Act; an amendment to enable the authorization of the Commissioner to start legal proceedings against trespassers instead of the Commissioner himself; finally, an amendment to exclude the Commissioner from liability for injury or death when activities take place on developed Commissioner’s land without the written permission of the local land agent.

Bill 13 also contains several amendments that are not substantive in nature but were made on the advice of legislative counsel. Thank you for this opportunity to present proposed Bill 13 as amended. I will be pleased to answer any questions you may have.