Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. To the motion.

Question has been called. The motion is carried.

---Carried

Item 18, first reading of bills. Item 19, second reading of bills. Item 20, consideration in Committee of the Whole of bills and other matters: Bill 42, An Act to Amend the Residential Tenancies Act; Committee Report 13-17(5), Report on Bill 42: An Act to Amend the Residential Tenancies Act; and Committee Report 14-17(5), Report on the 2014 Review of the Official Languages Act, with Mrs. Groenewegen in the chair.

I’d like to call Committee of the Whole to order. What is the wish of committee? Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We wish to deal with Committee Report 13-17(5) and Bill 42. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Does committee agree?

Thank you, committee. We will commence with Committee Report 13-17(5), Report on Bill 42: An Act to Amend the Residential Tenancies Act. At this time I would like to call on the chair of the Standing Committee on Social Programs, who reviewed the act, to deliver the committee comments on the committee report on the bill. Mr. Moses.

Thank you, Madam Chair. We did make the comments in the House yesterday when we read the report in. I do have a motion, Madam Chair.

I move that the Government of the Northwest Territories provide a comprehensive response to this report within 120 days. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Moses. The motion has been distributed. To the motion. Ms. Bisaro.

Thanks, Madam Chair. This report had one motion, but it had a number of recommended actions. I just wanted to mention a couple of the recommended actions and some of the discussion that happened at committee in the development of this report on this bill.

First of all, there was quite a bit of interest, and I want to compliment the Department of Justice for the consultation process that they went through. They did get quite a bit of interest from stakeholders, quite a number of submissions, and they considered all of the issues that were brought forward by the stakeholders who made submissions. They didn’t accept them all, but they did certainly consider them. From what we got at committee, the department provided pretty good rationale as to why they didn’t incorporate some of the suggestions from the stakeholders.

For me, the biggest issue and one that provided difficulty for me as a committee member, and I think

we were stuck, I guess, as a committee on the issue of transition housing. It’s not covered under the Residential Tenancies Act currently and the department chose to continue that exclusion of transitional housing in the act. There is no amendment to deal with transition housing in this bill that’s going to come before us. There are two recommendations from committee. One is that the department provide a definition of transition housing in the next round of statutory amendments to this bill and, secondly, that the Department of Justice provide better protection for transition housing tenants against unreasonable restrictions on personal freedom and arbitrary evidence. Actually, there’s one more, that there be a definition of transition housing in the regulations attached to this bill.

There was quite a bit of strong feeling on the part of at least some of committee that transition housing tenants do not have the same protection under the Residential Tenancies Act that any other tenant does, and many of the transition housing suppliers and providers don’t want their housing to be covered under the Residential Tenancies Act. I would say the submissions were pretty much divided 50/50, so I can understand why the department chose to keep the status quo. But I think there needs to be very strong consideration of the human rights aspect of tenants in transition housing, and I think, to make it clear and to make it easy for the rental officer to deal with situations of tenants and landlords, there needs to be a definition of transitional housing. The act specifically excludes it, but it doesn’t define it. I think that that’s something that is missing, and I sincerely hope that the department will make that adjustment the next time this act comes forward for amendment. That’s all I have.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Any further comments on the motion? To the motion.

Question has been called. The motion is carried.

---Carried

Does committee agree that that concludes consideration of Committee Report 13-17(5)?

Now we’ll move to Bill 42, An Act to Amend the Residential Tenancies Act, and I would like to ask Minister Abernethy if he would like to deliver the department’s opening comments on the bill. Minister Abernethy.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I am pleased to be here for the Department

of Justice to introduce Bill 42, An Act to Amend the Residential Tenancies Act.

Bill 42 addresses a number of concerns that have been brought to the attention of the Department of Justice through a series of engagements with stakeholders.

It includes amendments which will ensure that orders of the rental officer are enforceable by permitting them to be filed in the Supreme Court instead of the Territorial Court, allow a victim of family violence to make an application to terminate a tenancy agreement, and establish regulation-making authority to set fees for filing applications with the rental office.

These and other changes provided for in the bill will ensure that the Residential Tenancies Act continues to effectively govern the relationship between landlords and tenants, while defining and striking a balance between the rights and obligations of each.

The department undertook significant consultations while developing this bill. This process started with a review of the act during the fall of 2012. Information about the review and the issues identified was shared with the Standing Committee on Social Programs in December 2012. This early work allowed the department to focus on eight core issues in the development of a consultation document distributed in August 2013 to a list of housing stakeholders and MLAs and made available to the general public through the department’s website.

The consultation closed on September 30, 2013. At the request of stakeholders, departmental officials met in person to explain and discuss potential amendments to the act. This included meetings with the Coalition Against Family Violence, the Yellowknife Homelessness Coalition, the NWT Housing Corporation and the two rental officers. Submissions were received from housing organizations, landlords, territorial and community agencies and individuals. The deputy rental officer and the NWT Housing Corporation also submitted responses to the consultation paper. Suggestions for improvements to the act were received from MLAs and were considered as part of the consultation.

I would like to thank the Standing Committee on Social Programs for its review of Bill 42 and for its willingness to advance two motions that have improved the legislation before you today. I would be pleased to answer any questions that Members may have regarding Bill 42. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Abernethy. At this time I would like to ask the Minister if he would like to bring witnesses into the Chamber.

I would, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Minister Abernethy. Does committee agree?

I will ask the Sergeant-at-Arms to please escort the witnesses to the table.

Minister Abernethy, for the record, could you please introduce your witnesses.

Thank you, Madam Chair. With me on my left is Mark Aitken, the assistant deputy minister and Attorney General of the Northwest Territories. On my far right is Emily Ingarfield, the manager of policy and planning. Beside me on my right is Ken Chutskoff, who is legislative counsel working on this particular piece of legislation.

Thank you, Minister Abernethy. Bill 42, An Act to Amend the Residential Tenancies Act. General comments?