Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Standing Committee on Government Operations has been considering Bill 12, Northern Employee Benefits Services Pension Plan Act. Members will recall that a substantive report on
the committee’s review of
Bill 12 was presented to the Legislative Assembly on March 5, 2015. By motion, the House received the report and it was moved into Committee of the Whole for further consideration.
Bill 12 sets out the legislative framework for Northern Employee Benefits Services, NEBS, Pension Plan to continue as a multi-employer, multi-jurisdictional public sector pension plan for employees of approved public sector employers in both the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.
Because NEBS Pension Plan operates in both Northwest
Territories
and
Nunavut,
the
circumstances of its review are rather unique. At the same time we are conducting our review, our counterpart in Nunavut, the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut’s Standing Committee on Legislation, is conducting a concurrent review of Bill 1. Bills 1 and 12 are basically identical statutes and both are required for NEBS to require business in two separate jurisdictions.
Over the course of the winter, the standing committee worked closely with the Minister of Finance, Minister Miltenberger, and with the Standing Committee on Legislation with the Nunavut Legislative Assembly on amendments to improve Bill 12. These amendments were promoted by public input received on Bill 12 when the Standing Committee on Government Operations conducted a public review on September 25, 2014.
The standing committee would, once again, like to take the opportunity to thank everyone who participated in the review of Bill 12. This collaboration exemplifies participatory democracy in action and has, in the view of the standing committee, produced an act that fairly balances the needs of all stakeholders.
A clause-by-clause review of Bill 12 was held on February 19, 2015. Following the
committee’s
review, a motion was carried to report Bill 12 as amended and reprinted to the Assembly as ready for consideration in Committee of the Whole.
Mr. Chair, this concludes the committee’s comments on CR 11-17(5) and Bill 12. Individual Members may have individual questions or comments as we proceed. Mahsi, Mr. Chair.