Thank you, Mr. Chairman. That is correct, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, committee, and that is what committee agreed to. So we have agreed to consider Bill 13. I will ask the Minister responsible for the bill to introduce it. Minister Abernethy.

I am pleased to be here today to introduce Bill 13, Marriage Act.

This bill will replace the current Marriage Act. The current act predates the 1988 consolidation of Northwest Territories health statutes. Minor amendments have been made to the Marriage Act since then; however, none have kept pace with the Federal Government’s Civil Marriage Act and with other provincial and territorial marriage legislation.

It is important that we update the existing legislation now to ensure compliance with the federal Civil Marriage Act and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The bill reorganizes the provisions in the Marriage Act in a more logical way, and adopts plain language so that residents can better understand the requirements and procedures for getting married in the Northwest Territories.

The proposed bill is consistent with other jurisdictions’ marriage legislation while recognizing specific needs of the Northwest Territories, for example by making it easier for residents in smaller communities to get a marriage licence.

The bill proposes several key changes to the existing act including:

● Marriage of individuals under the age of 16 will be prohibited to comply with the federal Civil Marriage Act;

● A public registry of marriage licence issuers will be established to make it easier for residents to find a marriage licence issuer closest to them;

● Allows for the establishment of a public registry of marriage commissioners and registered clerics in the future;

● There is greater clarity around the provisions regarding the consent required for minors wanting to marry;

● Individuals will be prohibited from being under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time they are requesting a marriage licence, requesting bands, or at the marriage ceremony;

● Gender specific references will be removed;

● Provisions relating to persons who were previously married are simplified;

● Confidentiality provisions are included to protect the privacy of individuals; and

● Eligibility requirements for individuals applying to be appointed as marriage commissioners will reflect current administrative practice.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Standing Committee on Social Development for their review of the bill and their comments.

I am pleased to answer any questions Members may have.

Thank you, Minister. I will now turn to the Chair of the Standing Committee on Social Development, the committee that considered the bill for opening comments, Mr. Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the Standing Committee on Social Development concluded its review of Bill 13, Marriage Act on January 20, 2016. The public hearing was held here at the Legislative Assembly Building. Although the committee received no public submissions on the bill, Members understand that this bill has been long awaited in the legal community and are pleased that the Northwest Territories will now have a marriage legislation in keeping with federal standards and national best practices.

The committee was satisfied with the Minister's fulsome response to its questions and welcomes the implementation and new statute, which is coming into force. Individual Members may have additional comments or questions, as we proceed with consideration of this bill. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister, would you like to bring witnesses into the Chamber?

Yes, please.

Thank you. Sergeant-at-Arms, please escort the witnesses into the Chamber. Minister, please introduce your witnesses to the committee.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. On my left is Denise Canuel, who is the director of policy with the Department of Health and Social Services. On my right, Mr. Druyan, who is the legislative counsel with the Department of Justice, who worked on this piece of legislation.

Thank you, Minister, and welcome to the witnesses. I will now open the floor to general comments on Bill 13. General comments? Seeing none, does committee agree that we proceed to a clause-by-clause review of the bill?

Committee, there are 52 clauses. Would committee like to look at the bill 10 clauses at a time? Does committee agree?

Thank you, committee. We will defer the bill number and title until after the consideration of the clauses. Please turn to page 5 of the bill. Clauses 1 through 10. Comments or questions? Seeing none. Does committee agree?

Thank you, committee. Clauses 11 through 20. Ms. Green.

Mr. Chair, we have a problem, in that we don’t have a hard copy of the bill. The binders are no longer present. Could we be advised of where to find the copy of the bill?

The hard copies of the bill were circulated earlier in the afternoon, were they not? Committee pause while we figure this out.

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I will now call the Committee of the Whole back to order. Committee, when we left off we were considering Bill 13, Marriage Act. Now that we all have hard copies distributed, we'll go through the clause-by-clause consideration. We are agreed on clauses 1 through 10. Now I will call clauses 11 through 20. Comments or questions on clauses 11 through 20, which begin on page 7. Thank you, committee.

Thank you, Committee. Clauses 21 through 30. Does committee agree?

Clauses 31 through 40. Does committee agree?