Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to thank the Minister and the department for bringing forward these amendments to the Motor Vehicles Act. I feel strongly that road safety is more than a convenience; it’s a right for all. Often at times we forget about the privileges and rights we take advantage of and start to turn privileges into rights and get confused by what they really mean. The fact is we do have a right to want to feel safe and be safe on those roads, and this amendment addresses one of the privileges that people are using at this time and I look forward to the change on the roads. Whereas people are using the cell

phones as a distraction and it does put safety at a compromise for pedestrians and other drivers alike.

This is a real compromise that I think will move forward for public safety. I’m confident the steps taken by Bill 16 will ensure that our roads are that little more safer, which is really where the laws are finally evolving to address modern times and realities. When laws were conceived in the Motor Vehicles Act back in the day, cell phones weren’t an issue at the time. Now they have to be re-addressed in a way that responds to the changing of the times.

I’ve raised this issue of distracted driving, like a number of my colleagues here, on numerous occasions. I suspect every one of us is very pleased to see that the department has heard the concerns. I’m grateful for that and I suspect my colleagues are grateful as well.

The Minister, as I’ve raised questions in the House, has recognized the importance of these particular issues, and I will truly say that, although there was much jousting in question period over the years, to hear him today read his comments to the record really shows that the department and the Minister have heard the concerns raised by many. In my view, personal responsibility is important, but clearly Bill 16 is one of those things that help address an area where the individual responsibility has taken over and forgets about others on the road.

I’ve said, and I continue to say, that this issue is really not just about distracted driving but about public safety. I think this is putting public safety first, which is important. It’s not just my voice or my colleagues’ voices in this House that demonstrate the importance of this particular matter; we’ve heard this echoed by many people. Some of the champions, as we know, are SADD -- in this case they call themselves Students Against Distracted Driving -- the City of Yellowknife has spoken in favour of this, the NWTAC has spoken in favour of this, a number of my constituents have echoed serious concerns about this particular issue. Many provinces have all recognized the importance of addressing this particular issue in one form or another.

Many will say that the downside of having to give up the right -- or I call it privilege -- of being able to use their phone while they’re driving is quite challenging and unfair, but the downside is quite low when you think about it. The downside is that when people have their phone ring and they still feel the urge or necessity to answer it, all they need to do is pull over and answer it. To me the downside really is low when you balance out the impact by taking that call what could happen.

I had spoken to a constituent of mine, Michele Thoms, on many occasions on this particular one. She’s the SADD student advisor over at St. Patrick

High School. She had invited me in to talk to the students a couple of years ago regarding this particular problem, and the youth themselves recognized how important it is to have modern legislation address, attack, and certainly solve problems out there. To them, they couldn’t understand why years ago the government hadn’t responded quicker to address this particular problem.

I’m just going to wrap up by saying I thank the department and the Minister for seeing that this is an important issue to respond to. I’m glad that we’re responding to it in our mandate within this 16

Assembly. It would have been disappointing if it had continued to drag on, but clearly the government recognizes how important this need is for public safety on our roads. Of course, we all know the challenge of regulating and managing good behaviour of everyone is always a difficult one, but this is just one more step to make sure that our roads are safe for others.

As cited already by I think Mr. Abernethy and maybe even Ms. Bisaro, people can provide countless stories until the cows come home about driving experiences where they’ve seen people drive through red lights, not stop at stop signs, near misses of pedestrians, people driving and wandering all over the roads, and all while using their cell phones in one form or another. Does this law answer every particular problem? I suspect it doesn’t, but I’ll certainly say it’s an effort worth noting, and a compliment needs to go to the department and all those involved who took the time to respond and encourage the department to address this issue.