Thank you, Mr. Chairman. To my right I have Mr. Ian Rennie, the acting director of legislation with the Department of Justice.

Thank you. Welcome. Committee has agreed that we will begin general comments on Bill 27. General comments.

Committee has agreed we will go into details?

We will go to page 1. We will go back to the number and title. We have 16 clauses. Does committee agree we will take them in groups of four?

Clauses 1 to 4.

---Clauses 1 through 4 inclusive approved

Clauses 5 to 8.

---Clauses 5 through 8 inclusive approved

Clauses 9 to 12.

---Clauses 9 through 12 inclusive approved

Clauses 13 to 16.

---Clauses 13 through 16 inclusive approved

Bill as a whole?

Does committee agree that Bill 27, Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2014, is ready for third reading?

---Bill 27 as a whole approved for third reading

Bill 27 is now ready for third reading. Thank you, Minister Ramsay. Sergeant-at-Arms, please escort the witness out of the Chamber.

Thank you, committee. We will turn our attention to Bill 34, 2015 Polling Day Act. I will go to the chair of Caucus, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am pleased to provide the opening comments on Bill 34, 2015 Polling Day Act.

Mr. Chair, the general election for the 18th Legislative Assembly is currently scheduled to take place on Monday, October 5, 2015. Prior to the passage of fixed election date legislation in the Northwest Territories, the timing of our elections was a moving target. Subsequently, the Parliament of Canada adopted similar legislation establishing the third Monday in October every four years as the date fixed for federal elections. This has resulted in an overlap in the campaign period for the upcoming federal elections and those scheduled to take place in several provinces and territories, including our own. If the NWT and federal elections are held on the dates planned, there will be a 21-day overlap in the campaign period for each jurisdiction. In a small jurisdiction like ours, it is often the same people who administer federal and territorial elections in our communities and volunteer for various campaign organizations. Concerns have also been raised about message confusion and the potential mixing of partisan debate with our consensus system of government if the two campaigns take place concurrently. It is for these reasons that the NWT, like some of the other provinces in similar circumstances, supports a rescheduling of our election date in 2015 to avoid this overlap.

Mr. Chair, Bill 34 establishes April 1, 2015, as a go/no-go date for our 2015 General Election. If on that day the federal election remains scheduled for October 19, 2015, this bill will automatically delay the NWT election until November 23, 2015. The campaign period for a November 23rd territorial election will commence on October 30, 2015, a full 11 days after the federal election. If the timing of the federal election changes prior to April 1, 2015, so as to avoid an overlap in campaign periods, the date of the 2015 NWT General Election will remain October 5th.

Finally, Bill 34 will only take effect if the Parliament of Canada passes legislation permitting the life of the current Assembly to extend beyond its current four-year mandate. Section 224 of Bill C-43 recently introduced in the House of Commons intended to do just this. Although Bill C-34 permits the life of the current Assembly to be extended by up to one year, the proposal before you today contemplates a delay in our general election of only just over six weeks. Bill 34 deals only with the timing of the 2015 General Election. Additional legislation may be required to avoid similar overlaps in future years.

This concludes my opening comments. I will be pleased to answer any questions from the committee.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Do you have witnesses to bring into the Chamber?

Yes, I do.

Thank you. Does committee agree?

Thank you. Sergeant-at-Arms, please escort in the witnesses.

Thank you. Mr. Yakeleya, could you please introduce your witnesses, please.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. On my left is Ken Chutskoff, legislative counsel; and on my right is Mr. Tim Mercer, Clerk of the Legislative Assembly.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Committee, we’ll go to general comments on Bill 34, 2015 Polling Day Act. Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just have a comment. I don’t have any questions on this. I think we’ve come a long way and it’s been an interesting discussion. I think we’ve come to the right conclusions on this. Of course, we could change legislation at the federal and territorial level to extend our mandate up to a year, but I think we’ve listened to the public who expressed some concern about that.

This is an extension, but it’s a modest extension and, I think, theoretically at this time, depending on when the federal election is actually finally decided to be, I think this is a very reasonable stance to take and I support our conclusions here and this legislation. Mahsi.