Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am here to present Bill 19, Municipal Statutes Amendment Act.

Bill 19 proposes amendments to three of the municipal statues, the Cities, Towns and Villages Act, the Hamlets Act and the Charter Communities Act. The proposed amendments result from issues raised over the past several years by municipal governments. Additional minor amendments of a miscellaneous nature are included as requested by the Department of Justice.

The other municipal statue, the Tlicho Community Government Act, is not addressed in this bill. The Tlicho Government must consent in a separate process to the proposed amendments before they can be made. The Department of Municipal and Community Affairs is consulting with the Tlicho Government on the issues in Bill 19 and on other matters the Tlicho Government wish to have addressed.

I look forward to hearing comments from the Members and answering any questions. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Minister McLeod. On that, we will go to the chairperson of the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Infrastructure, which reviewed the bill, to make their comments. Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Standing Committee on Economic Development and Infrastructure met on February 16, 2011, to review Bill 19, Municipal Statutes Amendment Act. Following a clause-by-clause review, a motion was carried to report Bill 19 to the Assembly as ready for Committee of the Whole.

This concludes the committee’s general comments on Bill 19. Individual Members may have additional questions or comments as we proceed. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Does committee agree that we allow the Minister to have his witnesses remain in Chamber?

Minister McLeod, can I please get you to introduce your witnesses for the record?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have with me to my left Mr. Michael Aumond, deputy minister of MACA. To my right is David Kravitz, manager, community governance at MACA; and Lana Birch-Rideout, legislative counsel, Department of Justice. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister McLeod. I will now open the floor to general comments on Bill 19. Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As we all know, we basically established the legislation to empower the communities, but again, I think by bringing forward these statute amendments, I am wondering if there is any fiscal obligations that we may have or that there could be fiscal pressures put on the municipalities or local governments to administer these statutes by way of the amendments. If so, is this government going to be financially providing assistance to those communities that may have to take on more work in the light of the challenges they have?

I know a lot of the communities, especially in the rural, remote communities do have some challenges in regards to recruitment, retention, and more importantly, trying to just fulfill their legislative obligations regarding fiscally or through bylaws or municipal statues. So I’d just like to know has there been any discussions with the remote communities on the affect. I know you say you met with the municipalities, but I’d like to know if there are any restraints that may affect communities, but more importantly, are there any financial restraints that may cause the communities to have to do either more with less, or is the government willing to provide financial assistance if they have to take on a heavier workload. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Mr. Aumond.

Mr. Chair, I’m talking about the smaller communities that are struggling. They basically have small populations, they’re receiving less revenues from the Government of the Northwest Territories because of the way the gas tax dollars have been allocated and we are seeing some challenges by way of human resource challenges by simply administering and offering those requirements that we put on them through this type of legislation.

I think at the end of the day we have to be cognizant that all communities are not the same. It might be great for large municipalities where you have a large workforce, but when communities don’t have a financial officer or an SAO or are just barely keeping their heads above water financially and also operationally, we have to realize that there may be times when we may have to provide financial assistance for them to take on more of a workload in light of minor amendments. They might be minor to a large municipality, but it probably could be major to a small rural community. So I just want the department and the Minister to be conscious of that whenever we put this type of legislation forward, that we realize there is going to be some financial requirements to live up to the obligations that we put forward on communities. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Minister McLeod.

I’d just like to know, did you consult with any of the smaller communities such as Tsiigehtchic or Colville Lake or communities of that nature in regard to having small populations and requiring them to put in more responsibilities on them in regard to having to take on these types of amendments, because its miscellaneous for me. That basically means that somebody has to do the paperwork and follow the requirements that we put forward through these type of amendments. So have you consulted with small rural communities under, say, a population of 200?

The NWTAC was our conduit to the smaller communities and we consult with them and they, in turn, consulted with their member communities on some of the proposed amendments. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister McLeod. General comments on Bill 19. Is

committee agreed that there are no further comments on Bill 19?

Can we proceed with the clause-by-clause review of Bill 19? Agreed?

Agreed. Okay we’ll defer the title and the bill number and before we go into the clause-by-clause we need to go to Schedule A. Starting on page 2. Any questions?

Okay, let’s turn to Schedule B, which starts on page 5. Any questions?