Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Clause-by-Clause Review of the Bill

The clause-by-clause review of the bill was held on February 21, 2018. At this review, the committee moved the following motions:

Motion 1: That Bill 31 be amended by adding the following after subclause 4(4):

Subclause 4(5) - [Limit on cost recovery fee amount]:

For a period of three years following the coming into force of this section, the cost recovery fee established under subsection (1) shall be no more than $1.70 per month. The honourable Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs concurred with this motion, and the motion was carried.

Motion 2: That Bill 31 be amended by adding the following after subclause 7(2):

Subclause 7(3) For greater certainty, subsection (1) does not prohibit a person from programming the number 911 on any speed dial feature of any communications device.

The honourable Minister concurred with this motion, and the motion was carried.

Motion 3: That Bill 31 be amended by adding the following after clause 11:

REPORTING

11.1.(1) For the purposes of this section, "Official Language" means a language referred to in section 4 of the Official Languages Act.

(2) The Minister shall, within 90 days following the end of each fiscal year, table a report of the NWT 911 service in the Legislative Assembly,

which includes, for the preceding fiscal year,

(a) the total number of 911 calls received, including the number of calls received

(i) in each Official Language of the Northwest Territories,

(ii) from each community or region of the Northwest Territories, and

(iii) in each month of the preceding fiscal year;

(b) the total funds collected through imposition of the cost recovery fee;

(c) a breakdown of the operational costs of the service; and

(d) information regarding the performance of the service.

The honourable Minister concurred with this motion, and the motion was carried.

Conclusion

This concludes the Standing Committee on Government Operations' Review of Bill 31. Committee wishes to thank the honourable Minister for his concurrence with the motions to amend the bill that were moved during the clause-by-clause review. Committee also thanks Cabinet for its support of and funding for this important initiative.

Recommendation 3

The Standing Committee on Government Operations recommends that the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs provide a response to the recommendations contained in this report within 120 days.

Following the clause-by-clause review, a motion was carried to report Bill 31, Northwest Territories 911 Act, as amended and reprinted, as ready for consideration in Committee of the Whole.

The committee thanks the public for their participation in the review process and everyone involved in the review of this bill for their assistance and input.