Masi. The motion is in order. To the principle of the bill.

Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed?

---Carried.

Bill 33 has had its second reading. Second reading of bills. Item 20, consideration in Committee of the Whole of bills and other matters. Bill 27; Committee Report 112-18(2); Minister's Statement 186-18(2); Tabled Document 419-18(2), with the Member for Hay River North in the chair.

I will now call Committee of the Whole to order. What is the wish of the committee? Mr. Beaulieu.

Marsi cho, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the committee would like to consider Bill 27, An Act to Amend the Environmental Protection Act.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Does committee agree?

Thank you, committee. First, a short recess.

---SHORT RECESS

I will now call Committee of the Whole back to order. Committee, we have agreed to consider Bill 27, An Act to Amend the Environmental Protection Act. I will ask the Minister responsible for the bill to introduce it. Minister McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I am here to introduce Bill 27, An Act to Amend the Environmental Protection Act.

This bill makes several amendments to the act. It will:

• remove the non-application provision;

• authorize the Minister to determine that discharges are nuisances;

• authorize the Minister to establish and make publicly available a register regarding environmental contaminants;

• authorize the Minister to exempt persons from complying with the act or regulations in accordance with the regulations in place;

• create a new exception to the prohibition against releasing contaminants for discharges authorized under other legislation, and provides that the exception to the prohibition does not apply to nuisance discharges;

• allow for regulation of the manufacture, use, installation, removal, and modification of equipment that discharges contaminants, including measures designed to control the release of contaminants; and

• provide the Minister with regulation-making authority, particularly for making air regulations.

The amended EPA will also require persons intending to discharge a contaminant:

• to be authorized by this act or the regulations,

• to register with the Minister,

• to obtain a license or permit, and/or

• to provide the prescribed information.

With air quality in the NWT presently unregulated, the amendments I have described will enable the air regulatory gap to be closed through development of air regulations that are tailored for the Northwest Territories context. Significant consultation and engagement on these amendments has been conducted. We feel these amendments strike a good balance between flexibility and reflecting a modern environmental regime. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister. I will turn to the chair of the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment, the committee that considered the bill, for opening comments. Mr. Vanthuyne.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment concluded its review of Bill 27, An Act to Amend the Environmental Protection Act on September 26, 2017, with a public clause-by-clause review held here at the Legislative Assembly building. This followed an initial public hearing on the bill held on August 29, 2017. The committee received no public submissions on the bill and carried one motion to amend the bill during a clause-by-clause review.

Individual members may have additional comments or questions as we proceed with consideration of this bill. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Vanthuyne. Would the Minister like to bring any witnesses into the House?

Yes, I would, Mr. Chair. Thank you.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, to my right, I have Dr. Joe Dragon, who is the Deputy Minister of Environment and Natural Resources; to my left, I have Lisa Dyer, who is the director of Environment, Environment and Natural Resources; and to my far right, I have Mr. Thomas Druyan, legislative counsel, Department of Justice. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister. The general process for this is that we will have general comments, and then we will go into a clause-by-clause review of the bill. We can begin with general comments. Does committee have any general comments on Bill 27? Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. We have had quite a bit of discussion around this; so I will try to keep it brief. I think that everybody would agree that we have a common and shared interest in protecting the environment and making sure that we get this very first piece of post-devolution environmental legislation right and that it should really reflect best practises.

I think it is fair to say that the one remaining area where concerns have been expressed is around ministerial authority to grant exemptions from any or all provisions of the act and its regulations. During the public review process of earlier versions of the bill and, indeed, parts of the one that are before us today, concerns have been raised around this exemption authority by the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, Fort Chipewyan Metis, the Wek'eezhii Land and Water Board, the West Point First Nation, the Independent Environmental Monitoring Agency, myself, and the standing committee as well.

I agree that there have been some improvements made as a result of the clause-by-clause review, and I thank the Minister for that, but I think there is one remaining area that I would like to deal with when we get to the appropriate place in the clause-by-clause review of the bill. I think it is important that we do try to move this forward, and I think that one further improvement will even keep me happier. With that, Mr. Chair, I would like to hear from the Minister, and maybe we can proceed, unless other Members have comments. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Any other general comments? Seeing none, we can proceed to a clause-by-clause review of the bill. We will defer the bill number and title until after consideration of the clauses. Please turn to page 2 of the bill. There are seven clauses. We will go through each individually. I will call them out. If committee agrees, please say "agreed." Is committee ready? Clause 1.

Thank you. Clause 2.

Thank you. Clause 3. Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Yes, I would like to move an amendment to clause 3. I believe the amendments are at your table, and then you are going to be passing them out. Shall I wait until it is passed out, or shall I read it out?