Thank you, Mr. Chairman. With the changes to the Residential Tenancies Act that came into effect earlier, evictions can now be granted by the rental officer and no longer need to go to court. They also went to Supreme Court, not to Territorial Court in the past, so the answer is no.
Debates of Aug. 23rd, 2011
This is page numbers 6883 - 6924 of the Hansard for the 16th Assembly, 6th Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was fund.
Topics
Committee Motion 28-16(6): Amend Subclause 10(2) Of Bill 10, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Shaner
Committee Motion 28-16(6): Amend Subclause 10(2) Of Bill 10, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
The Chair David Krutko
General comments, Bill 22. Detail. Clause 1.
---Clauses 1 and 2 inclusive approved
Committee Motion 28-16(6): Amend Subclause 10(2) Of Bill 10, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Committee Motion 28-16(6): Amend Subclause 10(2) Of Bill 10, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Some Hon. Members
Agreed.
Committee Motion 28-16(6): Amend Subclause 10(2) Of Bill 10, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Committee Motion 28-16(6): Amend Subclause 10(2) Of Bill 10, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Some Hon. Members
Agreed.
---Bill 22 as a whole approved for third reading
Committee Motion 28-16(6): Amend Subclause 10(2) Of Bill 10, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Committee Motion 28-16(6): Amend Subclause 10(2) Of Bill 10, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Some Hon. Members
Agreed.
Committee Motion 28-16(6): Amend Subclause 10(2) Of Bill 10, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
The Chair David Krutko
With that, I’d like to thank the Minister and thank the witnesses. Sergeant-at-Arms, escort the witnesses out.
As we agreed, next is Bill 23, Tobacco Damages and Health Care Costs Recovery Act. The Minister responsible for the bill, the Minister of Justice, Mr. Lafferty.
Committee Motion 28-16(6): Amend Subclause 10(2) Of Bill 10, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Jackson Lafferty Monfwi
Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to be here to present about Bill 23, Tobacco Damages and Health Care Costs Recovery Act.
It has long been recognized that tobacco exposure is linked to serious health conditions in both smokers and non-smokers, including emphysema, heart disease and several types of cancer. The NWT has a very high rate of smoking and the need for many patients to travel south for treatment results in very high costs for our government.
This legislation would permit the GNWT to file a lawsuit to recover from past and future health care costs for smoking-related illnesses directly from tobacco companies. Currently all Canadian jurisdictions, with the exception of Yukon and the Northwest Territories, have enacted this kind of legislation. Nunavut was the first of the three territories to pass cost recovery legislation in November of 2010.
Mr. Chair, I would be pleased to answer questions that Members may have regarding Bill 23.
Committee Motion 28-16(6): Amend Subclause 10(2) Of Bill 10, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
The Chair David Krutko
Thank you, Mr. Minister. Apparently, there is no committee report because the bill was referred directly from second reading right to Committee of the Whole, so there is no committee report on this bill. At this time, I’d like to ask the Minister if he’ll be bringing in witnesses. Minister of Justice.
Committee Motion 28-16(6): Amend Subclause 10(2) Of Bill 10, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Committee Motion 28-16(6): Amend Subclause 10(2) Of Bill 10, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Committee Motion 28-16(6): Amend Subclause 10(2) Of Bill 10, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Some Hon. Members
Agreed.
Committee Motion 28-16(6): Amend Subclause 10(2) Of Bill 10, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
The Chair David Krutko
Sergeant-at-Arms, escort the witnesses in.
For the record, Mr. Minister, introduce your witnesses.
Committee Motion 28-16(6): Amend Subclause 10(2) Of Bill 10, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Jackson Lafferty Monfwi
Mahsi, Mr. Chair. To my left is Karan Shaner, the assistant deputy minister of Justice; to my right, Ian Rennie, legislative counsel.
Committee Motion 28-16(6): Amend Subclause 10(2) Of Bill 10, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
The Chair David Krutko
Thank you, Mr. Minister. Welcome witnesses. General comments on Bill 23. Mr. Bromley.
Committee Motion 28-16(6): Amend Subclause 10(2) Of Bill 10, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Bob Bromley Weledeh
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just some quick questions to the Minister. Does the GNWT currently have any actions underway against manufacturers of tobacco products?
Committee Motion 28-16(6): Amend Subclause 10(2) Of Bill 10, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Committee Motion 28-16(6): Amend Subclause 10(2) Of Bill 10, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Committee Motion 28-16(6): Amend Subclause 10(2) Of Bill 10, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Bob Bromley Weledeh
Thanks to the Minister. I noted in the Minister’s comments that NWT residents have a higher rate of addictions to nicotine than most jurisdictions and I think we’re all aware of that. I’m wondering what the consequences are of this to any future considerations of actions under this legislation. Are there consequences to being a much higher rate of addictions than in the provinces, for example?
Committee Motion 28-16(6): Amend Subclause 10(2) Of Bill 10, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Committee Motion 28-16(6): Amend Subclause 10(2) Of Bill 10, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Shaner
Thanks, Mr. Chairman. Not in terms of this legislation.
Committee Motion 28-16(6): Amend Subclause 10(2) Of Bill 10, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Bob Bromley Weledeh
The other aspect of that is while we have really intense users of tobacco products, we are fewer in numbers. Are there implications here to potential actions we can consider? Again, given that we have a very large proportion of our population that is using tobacco products, are there implications of this legislation given that? Thank you.
Committee Motion 28-16(6): Amend Subclause 10(2) Of Bill 10, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Shaner
The trade-off, I guess, if I can use that word, is that although we have fewer numbers, we do have the, as you mentioned, very high rate of smoking. We also have very high health care costs compared to other jurisdictions because of the need for air travel and the need for southern facilities and a lot of the smoking-related illnesses that we have to treat.