This is page numbers 6091 - 6124 of the Hansard for the 18th Assembly, 3rd Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was environmental.

Topics

The Chair

The Chair Frederick Blake Jr.

Agreed. Thank you. We will now return to the bill number and title. Bill 56, An Act to Amend the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act, No. 2. Does committee agree?

Some Hon. Members

Agreed.

The Chair

The Chair Frederick Blake Jr.

Does committee agree that Bill 56 is now ready for third reading?

Some Hon. Members

Agreed.

The Chair

The Chair Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you. Bill 56 is now ready for third reading. Does committee that this concludes our consideration of Bill 56?

Some Hon. Members

Agreed.

The Chair

The Chair Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Vanthuyne, and thank you to your witnesses. Sergeant-at-Arms, please escort the witnesses from the Chamber. Thank you, committee. Committee Report 28-18(3), Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment Report on the Review of Bill 25, An Act to Amend the Workers' Compensation Act. I will go to the chair of the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment for any opening comments. Mr. Vanthuyne.

Cory Vanthuyne

Cory Vanthuyne Yellowknife North

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Bill 25, An Act to Amend the Workers' Compensation Act, was referred to the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment on October 29, 2019. On February 26, 2020, the committee was granted an extension to continue its review.

The committee sent letters inviting input from an extensive list of stakeholders, including municipal and Indigenous governments in the Northwest Territories, as well as a number of non-governmental organizations and stakeholders. A public hearing was held in Yellowknife on February 12, 2019. The committee thanks everyone who attended these meetings or provided written submissions sharing their views on Bill 25.

The shared nature of the Workers' Safety and Compensation Commission between two jurisdictions, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, gives rise to a unique situation. Two distinct and sovereign legislatures are concurrently considering amendments to two pieces of mirrored legislation to govern a single body that conducts business in both jurisdictions.

While the circumstances that have given rise to two different legislatures in two independently governed jurisdictions considering mirrored legislation are usual, they are not without precedent. The committee thanks the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut's Standing Committee on Legislation for its collaboration and cooperation as this bill was reviewed.

The committee concluded its review of Bill 25, An Act to Amend the Workers' Compensation Act, on August 9, 2019 with a public clause-by-clause review held at the Legislative Assembly. Bill 25 was amended, with two clauses deleted by the committee and three motions moved making changes to other clauses. These amendments received concurrence from the Minister.

Mr. Chair, individual Members may have additional comments or questions. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The Chair

The Chair Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Mr. Vanthuyne. I will now open the floor to general comments on Committee Report 28-18(3), Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment Report on Bill 25, An Act to Amend the Workers' Compensation Act. Mr. Testart.

Kieron Testart

Kieron Testart Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Chair. As the chair said, the committee spent a great deal of time working on this bill, and largely it was driven by the need to cooperate with our sister territory of Nunavut and work closely with their standing committee. That was a very productive relationship, and we were able to communicate some issues that both sides found with the bill.

However, the unique nature of this legislation where one body exists in two different jurisdictions and is governed by two acts, I think the expectation is that how it works in the NWT will be how it works in Nunavut, and that makes very much sense from an operational standpoint, but it did create challenges for the committee in reviewing this legislation. What I am speaking to today is less about Bill 25 and more about that unique nature of the WSCC legislation in the first place. My concern is that, should there ever be a time when the people of the Northwest Territories want their WSCC to operate fundamentally differently than Nunavut, we may not be in a position to offer those changes to employers, employees, and other people who want to see a different way of doing WSCC or workers' safety rules or governance structures, things like that.

So, until we either split the commission into two separate ones, such as they have done with the law society, for example, and a few others or adopt a model like the professional accountancy's legislation we passed in this House a while back, I don't think we are going to really reach the level of satisfaction that a lot of people have -- I hear concerns about the WSCC often, and how to address them becomes difficult if we are not able to adequately amend our own legislation if it won't result in the same changes in Nunavut. This is very much a live issue, and it's something that I think the 19th Assembly needs to think about because the state of affairs is going to continue to kind of trouble the expediency of legislative changes and also the independence of the Northwest Territories to bring about its own legislative changes.

With that being said, I think we have done a good job or the committee has done a good job with Bill 25, and largely some of the issues that the committee found with it have been resolved, so the process worked now. However, again, if there are some major changes sought by the public, my fear is that we will be unable to act on it if the current state of affairs remains consistent into the future. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The Chair

The Chair Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Mr. Testart. Next, we have Mr. O'Reilly.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Yes, I, too, would like to commend the chair of our committee in particular. This was an unusual bill for us to deal with, and I know that the chair did have to spend some extra time on this one. He did talk to the chair of the Nunavut standing committee on the phone about this bill to make sure that our efforts were coordinated and understood. Our staff behind the scenes were also working together on making sure that we understood what the concerns of Nunavut were with regard to this bill and so that we could try to harmonize our efforts in that way. I also want to commend the Minister, though, because there were some areas of disagreement initially on some areas of the bill, particularly with regard to workers' rights and their medical records. The way the bill had originally been drafted might lead to personal medical records that had nothing whatsoever to do with a Workers' Compensation claim being accessible to the commission and the commission's investigators and so on.

Working with the Minister, we were able to come up, I think, with a very good compromise, which actually solved the deletion of a couple of parts of the bill. I do want to commend the Minister and his staff for working really well with the committee on this bill, and I think we've arrived at a good place that achieves the kind of balance to make sure that the commission can carry out its work, and that workers' rights to privacy, and workers' rights in general are protected. I am quite pleased with where we ended up on this bill. I think this is how consensus government can and should work. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The Chair

The Chair Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Any further questions? Seeing none, thank you. Committee, do you agree that you have concluded consideration of Committee Report 28-18(3) on the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment Report on the Review of Bill 25, An Act to Amend the Workers' Compensation Act?

Some Hon. Members

Agreed.

The Chair

The Chair Frederick Blake Jr.

Agreed. Thank you, committee. We have concluded consideration of Committee Report 28-18(3), report on the review of Bill 25, An Act to Amend the Workers' Compensation Act. Thank you, Committee.

Committee, we have agreed to consider Bill 25, An Act to Amend the Workers' Compensation Act. I will ask the Minister responsible for the Workers' Compensation Act to introduce the bill. Mr. Moses.

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am pleased to introduce Bill 25, An Act to Amend the Workers' Compensation Act. I would like to thank the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment for their review of this bill.

The purpose of the amendments to the Workers Compensation Act is to ensure certain provisions are in compliance with past court decisions. It further protects workers with mandatory reporting of industrial exposures, removes restrictions for workers who are seeking medical attention, modernizes the language for clarity and transparency, and aids the commission to ensure the sustainability of the Workers' Protection Fund. The amendments strike a balance between privacy and confidentiality of health information, and providing case management services to injured workers.

The Workers Compensation Act provides dual legislation to the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. Our counterparts in Nunavut are reviewing the legislation as Bill 8, and while there has been interaction between the Northwest Territories and Nunavut at the Minister and committee on a legislation level, Nunavut has not had input into the final version of Bill 25. Bill 8 is expected to be reviewed in the near future. The coming into force date of the amendments will need to be linked to the passing of Bill 8 by Nunavut.

Mr. Chair, that concludes my opening remarks, and I would be pleased to answer any questions that Members may have regarding Bill 25. Thank you.

The Chair

The Chair Frederick Blake Jr.

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

Cory Vanthuyne

Cory Vanthuyne Yellowknife North

Thank you, Mr. Chair. No additional comments. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The Chair

The Chair Frederick Blake Jr.

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

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and yes, I do.

The Chair

The Chair Frederick Blake Jr.

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

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Mr. Chair. On my right is Miss Kim Collins Riffel the vice president of stakeholder services for WSCC, and on my left is Christina Brownlee, legislative counsel with Justice. I just would also say that I would like to thank Kim for the work that she has done just recently as the acting president for WSCC.

The Chair

The Chair Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister Moses. I will now open the floor to general comments on Bill 25. Seeing none, does committee agree that there are no further comments?

Some Hon. Members

Agreed.

The Chair

The Chair Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you. Can we proceed to a clause-by-clause review of the bill?