This is page numbers 6651 - 6686 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 report.

Topics

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Question has been called.

---Carried

Mr. Menicoche.

Committee Motion 15-16(6): Performance And Program Evaluation Of NWT Health, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Kevin A. Menicoche

Kevin A. Menicoche Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move that this committee recommends that the Department of Health and Social Services and the health authorities develop a set of system-wide performance indicators and identify key data requirements, develop a program evaluation plan setting out areas they plan to evaluate, and regularly inform the Legislative Assembly and the public about the performance of the NWT health care system.

Committee Motion 15-16(6): Performance And Program Evaluation Of NWT Health, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

The motion is in order. To the motion.

Committee Motion 15-16(6): Performance And Program Evaluation Of NWT Health, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Some Hon. Members

Question.

Committee Motion 15-16(6): Performance And Program Evaluation Of NWT Health, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Question has been called.

---Carried

Seeing no further motions… Mr. Menicoche.

Committee Motion 16-16(6): Comprehensive Response Within 90 Days, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Kevin A. Menicoche

Kevin A. Menicoche Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move that this committee recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories provides a comprehensive response to this report within 90 days.

Committee Motion 16-16(6): Comprehensive Response Within 90 Days, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

The motion is in order. To the motion.

Committee Motion 16-16(6): Comprehensive Response Within 90 Days, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Some Hon. Members

Question.

Committee Motion 16-16(6): Comprehensive Response Within 90 Days, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Question has been called.

---Carried

Seeing no further motions on this Committee Report 2-16(6), does committee agree that we’ve concluded our business on the Standing Committee on Government Operations Report on the Review of the Auditor General’s Report on NWT Health

Programs and Services, 2011, Department of Health and Social Services?

Committee Motion 16-16(6): Comprehensive Response Within 90 Days, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Some Hon. Members

Agreed.

Committee Motion 16-16(6): Comprehensive Response Within 90 Days, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Thank you, committee. We’ll move on to Committee Report 3-16(6), read into the House on May 12th , Standing

Committee on Government Operations Report on the Review of the 2009-2010 Human Rights Commission Annual Report. Start with general comments. We’ll move on to recommendations in the form of motions. Mr. Menicoche.

Kevin A. Menicoche

Kevin A. Menicoche Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move that this committee recommends that the Department of Justice review and assess the advisability of prohibiting discrimination based on unrelated criminal convictions or criminal records.

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

The motion is in order. To the motion. Mr. Abernethy.

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It’s my understanding that in 2005 the Human Rights Commission recommended the inclusion of unrelated criminal records as protected grounds for discrimination for employment. I also understand that it wasn’t supported at that time because there was a concern about increased litigation, that it could increase litigation substantially as the definition for “unrelated” was felt to be too broad and subjective.

I feel that was the wrong thing to do at the time. There are three other jurisdictions that offer such protection: Quebec, British Columbia and the Yukon. All three jurisdictions report very few, around 1 percent of all complaints, on these grounds were lodged. So there is no floodgate. There is no substantially increased litigation. There are plenty of court decisions, including decisions from courts of appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada, which provide ample guidance for discerning an objective definition. As a common-law jurisdiction it’s expected that courts build on previous decisions to breathe new meaning into the law. The cost of litigation would not increase substantially. This is evidenced by the very small proportion of complaints filed under this ground and other jurisdictions. The most costly area of human rights litigation is disability and accommodation issues, not unrelated criminal records.

There are two categories for the grounds of protection under our human rights legislation and they are immutable grounds, which are basically personal traits which cannot be changed or can be changed at any great personal cost. Things like

race, religion, sex and sexual orientation. There are also non-immutable grounds: personal characteristics which are generally irrelevant to one’s ability to work or contract but may subject individuals to stigma or hostility. These are things like political opinion or affiliation, union membership, social condition, immigration status, source of income, and unrelated criminal records.

Things that I think we should be considering and the government should be considering when we’re talking about this motion, is that criminal record holders in the Northwest Territories are, unfortunately, overwhelmingly of Aboriginal decent. Discrimination on the basis of an unrelated criminal record could compound discrimination already faced by individuals in the Northwest Territories, especially marginalizing the individuals. This is a fundamental underpinning of human rights legislation, that qualified persons should not be refused employment on irrelevant traits.

We’re talking about unrelated criminal records here and I think this is an important motion for us to pass and I think it’s an important action that this government needs to take and amend human rights legislation accordingly so that we can protect our residents.

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. To the motion.

Some Hon. Members

Question.

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Question has been called.

---Carried

Mr. Menicoche.

Committee Motion 18-16(6): Comprehensive Response Within 120 Days, Carried As Amended
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

May 16th, 2011

Kevin A. Menicoche

Kevin A. Menicoche Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move that this committee recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories provides a comprehensive response to this report within 120 days.

Committee Motion 18-16(6): Comprehensive Response Within 120 Days, Carried As Amended
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

The motion is in order. To the motion. Mrs. Groenewegen.

Jane Groenewegen

Jane Groenewegen Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move that Committee Motion 18-16(6) be amended by deleting the number “120” and substituting the number “90.”

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The motion to amend is on the floor and in order. To the motion.

Some Hon. Members

Question.

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Question has been called.

---Carried

The amended motion is in order. To the amended motion.

Some Hon. Members

Question.

The Chair

The Chair Bob Bromley

Question has been called.

---Carried

I believe once again that completes our business. Mr. Abernethy.