Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Standing Committee on Government Operations is pleased to speak to our review of Bill 7: Chartered Professional Accountants Act.

Bill 7, sponsored by the Department of Finance, merges the three professional accounting bodies currently operating in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, following the lead of the three related national accounting bodies that merged in 2013. Bill 7 will repeal three existing NWT statutes and replace them with a single, new Chartered Professional Accountants Act. This bill is being coordinated with legislation in Nunavut to allow members of the newly-merged body, the Chartered Professional Accountants of Northwest Territories/Nunavut, known as CPA NWT/NU, to operate as one in both territories.

A public clause-by-clause review was held on October 10, 2018. This meeting had been deferred previously when our law clerk brought to the attention of the committee a concern shared by the law clerk in Nunavut, that clause 2 of Bill 7 raises a significant legal matter. As drafted, the bill proposed to establish the CPA NWT/NU as a single statutory corporation rooted in both jurisdictions, without stating in which jurisdiction the corporation is created, or pursuant to whose laws. I am pleased to report that our law clerk, legislative drafters in the Department of Justice, and the law clerk in Nunavut have collaborated on amendments to resolve the concerns which were brought forward as motions, and concurred with by the Minister of Finance. I am further pleased to report that the honourable Minister advised the committee that the organizations amalgamated under the CPA NWT/NU have been consulted on these proposed changes and are supportive of the recommended approach. I wish to thank everyone involved for this collaborative effort to ensure that we enact the best and most sound legislation possible.

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