Bill 3 is now ready for third reading. Thank you, Mr. Minister. Thank you, witnesses. Sergeant-at-Arms, escort the witness out.

As we agreed, the next bill we will be dealing with is Bill 11, An Act to Amend the Workers’ Compensation Act. At this time I would like to ask the Minister if he has any comments. Mr. Robert McLeod.

Mr. Chairman, thank you for the opportunity to provide opening comments on Bill 11, An Act to Amend the Workers’ Compensation Act. The proposed amendments allow for the creation of a legislative presumption that firefighters with certain types of cancers are presumed to have developed the cancer from their work.

The presumption for firefighters, full-time, part-time and volunteer, will recognize that firefighters who have certain types of cancers after working as firefighters for specified periods developed those cancers from their work. Seven Canadian jurisdictions currently provide for a legislative presumption for firefighters. Regulations will list the cancers and the required length of employment as a firefighter for the presumption to apply.

Secondly, the proposed amendments allow greater flexibility for appointing qualified individuals to the position of Governance Council chairperson.

The provisions of the current Workers’ Compensation Act limit the term a person can serve on the Governance Council, in any capacity, to a maximum of six years of consecutive service and no term of appointment can be longer than three years. In other words, if a person had served on the Governance Council as a director for a total of four years, the maximum time this person could serve as chairperson is two years.

The proposed amendment will allow the Minister to appoint a director to the Governance Council for a total period not exceeding nine years. The chairperson provides a leadership role; increasing the time limit of service on the Governance Council gives the Minister options to ensure the Governance Council has effective leadership. The bill does not seek to modify term lengths. That is, the Minister can still appoint a director to a maximum term of three years. The proposed amendment allows the Minister to reappoint a director for up to two additional three-year terms.

I would like to thank the standing committee for their input and comments to enhance the bill. I look forward to our discussion today and am prepared to answer any questions the committee may have. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. At this time I’d like to call on the chair of the standing committee which reviewed the bill if he has any comments. Mr. Ramsay.

Thanks, Mr. Chairman. Bill 11, An Act to Amend the Workers’ Compensation Act, makes two amendments: to create a presumption that certain diseases which occur more frequently in firefighters than in the general population have been caused by the firefighter’s exposure to conditions at the scene of fires. A further amendment extends the period of time that a Minister may reappoint a person to the Governance Council.

The Standing Committee on Economic Development and Infrastructure held a public hearing on Bill 11, An Act to Amend the Workers’ Compensation Act, on February 23,

2010. The

committee brought forward some proposed amendments at the public review on the same day. The first amendment broadens the definition of firefighter to include part-time and volunteer firefighters. The second amendment limits the tenure of a director on the Governance Council to a period not exceeding nine years without a break in service and that a person who has served on the Governance Council may be reappointed after a break of one year. The Minister concurred and the bill was amended. The committee thanks the Minister and his staff for presenting the bill.

Following the committee’s review, a motion was carried to report Bill 11, An Act to Amend the Workers’ Compensation Act, as ready for consideration in Committee of the Whole.

This concludes the committee’s opening comments on Bill 11. Individual Members may have additional questions or comments as we proceed. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. At this time I would like to ask the Minister if he will be bringing in any witnesses.

Yes, I would, Mr. Chair.

Does committee agree that the Minister brings in his witnesses?

Sergeant-at-Arms, escort the witnesses in.

Mr. Minister, for the record, can you introduce your witnesses?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have with me, on the left, Anne Clark, president of the Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission; and, Mr. Ian Rennie, legislative counsel. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Welcome, witnesses. General comments on the bill.

Detail. Bill 11, An Act to Amend the Workers’ Compensation Act, clause 1.

---Clauses 1 through 4 inclusive approved

Bill as a whole?

Does committee agree that Bill 11 is ready for third reading?

Bill 11 is now ready for third reading. With that, I would like to thank the Minister, thank the witnesses. Sergeant-at-Arms, escort the witnesses out, please.

As we agreed, the next item on the list is Minister’s Statement 47-16(4). General comments. What is the wish of committee? With that, we’ll take a short break.

---SHORT RECESS

[Microphone turned off]...transfer of public housing rent supp. Questions? Comments? Mr. Yakeleya.

I’ve got a cold here, Mr. Chairman. I want to comment on the initiative that the Housing Corporation’s going to pursue on the housing rent initiatives. Certainly we look forward to it in our communities.

I wanted to say that this is a longstanding issue. For many years they talked about the whole process of the rents. It has an impact on our relationship with the federal government and their way of doing business. I want to just encourage the Minister and his staff to see if they would be able to speed up the process. I know it takes some time to go through the transition; however, if they could speed up the process to look at the rent issue here and help the people in our communities to find some room for them to make a good living, to pay their bills, and to look at how they could get some savings out of their paycheque. A lot of my constituents do find jobs; however, they are dinged pretty high on household rent assessment. They get pretty discouraged when wanting to find work or stay with a job. I hope the corporation and the Minister can put this rent assessment in place right away so we can start seeing some benefits in our communities. That’s all I have to say.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Any comments regarding the transfer of public housing rent supp? Mr. Menicoche.

I move that this committee strongly recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories take immediate steps to expedite the transfer of the administration of the Public Housing Rental Subsidy back to the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation;

And further, that quarterly progress reports on the status of the transfer be provided to the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Infrastructure and that progress reports include a human resource component identifying how affected employees will be managed and deployed;

And furthermore, that the transfer be fully implemented no later than April 1, 2011.

The motion is in order. The motion is being circulated. To the motion.