I am pleased to be here today to discuss Bill 27, Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2014. I would like to thank the Standing Committee on Social Programs for its review of the bill.

The purpose of Bill 27 is to amend various statutes of the Northwest Territories for which minor changes are proposed or errors or inconsistencies have been identified.

Each amendment included in the bill had to meet the following criteria:

a)it must not be controversial;

b)it must not involve the spending of public funds;

c)it must not prejudicially affect rights;

d)it must not create a new offence or subject a new class of persons to an existing offence.

Departments responsible for the various statutes being amended have reviewed and approved the changes.

Most amendments proposed in Bill 27 are minor in nature and many consist of technical corrections to a statute. The amendments are of such a nature that the preparation and legislative consideration of individual bills to correct each statute would be time consuming for the government and the Legislative Assembly.

I will be pleased to answer any questions the committee may have regarding this bill. Thank you.