Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am pleased to introduce Bill 21, An Act to Amend the Dental Profession Act.
This bill will amend the Dental Profession Act to make the supervision of dental students more practical for the NWT. It is our hope that dental students who take advantage of the opportunity to work for a term in a northern community will return upon completing their dental degree.
We also made minor changes to the act such as changing the term of “secretary” to that of “registrar.” This amendment will also allow the Minister to appoint a registrar who will be responsible for registering all applicants. The act is also being amended to comply with the labour mobility provisions in the Agreement on Internal Trade.
In addition, this amendment will update the composition of the Dental Registration Committee so that the proposed changes will now reflect that the registrar is formally appointed to the Dental Registration Committee as well as an employee of the department.
The proposed amendments will allow the Dental Registration Committee to approve a dental specialist’s application if an applicant is licensed or registered in another province. Alternatively, an applicant can show that they have passed the National Dental Specialty Exam and have successfully completed a specialty training program accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation of Canada.
I would like to thank members of the standing committee for their review of this bill and for their comments. Thank you, also, to the Member of the Legislative Assembly for Hay River South for bringing this matter to the attention of the department. Finally, I would like to thank the NWT/Nunavut Dental Association for their support in seeing this legislative initiative through.
That concludes my opening remarks. I would be pleased to answer any questions Members may have. Thank you.