Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Stakeholder Submissions

The standing committee sought the input of key stakeholders and members of the public with respect to Bill 37, through letters and newspaper advertisements inviting input.

One written submission was received from Ms. Elaine Keenan Bengts, the Information and Privacy Commissioner for the Northwest Territories. Ms. Keenan Bengts provided the standing committee with her observations on Bill 37, as it regards matters related to access to information and the protection of privacy under the NWT’s Access to Information and Protection of Privacy (ATIPP) Act. This submission was shared with the Minister of Finance and resulted in a motion to amend Bill 37, to clarify which act has paramountcy in the event of a conflict. A copy of this submission is attached to this report as Appendix B.

The standing committee held a public hearing on Bill 37 on May 26, 2015. No members of the public made submissions at that hearing. However, the standing committee allowed an opportunity for additional input from members of the public before the beginning of its clause-by-clause review of the bill on May 29, 2015. The standing committee received a verbal submission from Ms. Noeline Villebrun, a member of the public, at its meeting on May 29, 2015.

The standing committee would like to take this opportunity to thank the stakeholders who took the time to provide their input on Bill 37.

Collaboration

The standing committee wishes to comment on the high degree of collaboration and cooperation that took place between the standing committee and the Minister and Department of Finance during the course of the review of Bill 37.

The committee thanks Minister Miltenberger, his staff, and officials from the Department of Justice for making themselves readily available to discuss the bill. Minister Miltenberger met with the standing committee on a number of occasions, and his staff met with the standing committee’s staff and consultant to review several aspects of the bill.

As a result, this review was marked by an unprecedented degree of collegial work, which buoyed the committee and reminded Members that our consensus system of government can work well when participants have a spirit of collaboration. In the view of the standing committee, this cooperative approach has produced a final revised bill, which notably improves upon the draft originally submitted to the standing committee.

Issues

During the course of the review, the standing committee raised a number of concerns and issues with Bill 37. Some of these were articulated in the

consultant’s report and some were raised by committee members. Some resulted in amendments to the bill and others required clarification and/or resolution outside of the bill itself. These issues are summarized below:

Addressing Potential Conflict with ATIPP Act

As previously indicated, the standing committee received a submission from the NWT Information and Privacy Commissioner, which focused on access to information and protection of privacy matters under Bill 37. Ms. Keenan Bengts’ submission pointed out that there is a conflict between Section 3 of Bill 37 and Section 4 of the ATIPP Act. Both sections provide that each act applies where there is a conflict. If the wording of Bill 37 remained unchanged, a conflict arising from the two acts would be subject to interpretation by the courts. The standing committee discussed with and received the concurrence of the Minister to a motion to amend the bill, for greater legislative certainty, revising the wording of Bill 37 such that in the event of a conflict between the two acts, the ATIPP Act will prevail to the extent of the conflict.

I’ll now turn the report over to Mr. Moses.