Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried.

---Carried

Mr. Vanthuyne.

Thank you, Mr. Vanthuyne. The motion is in order and has been distributed. The motion is in order. To the motion.

Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried.

---Carried

Mr. Vanthuyne.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I maybe should have read that previous motion last. A little out of order, but I will get us back on track. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this committee recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories begin work on anti-SLAPP legislation for introduction during the life of the 19^th Legislative Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Vanthuyne. The motion is on the floor and has been distributed. The motion is in order. To the motion. Mr. Testart.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. For those who are not acronym-savvy, SLAPP stands for "strategic litigation against public participation," and this is the use of the courts, essentially, to silence criticism or public advocacy of a project or a policy or something that a private interest does not want to be criticized about. A number of Legislatures are considering similar legislation. The British Columbia Legislature has since passed an anti-SLAPP bill, and it received all-party support in their Legislature.

This is a really important issue. It is imperative that we protect the public's interest to be able to raise differences of opinion without intimidation from those with the means to take SLAPP actions against members of the public. I strongly support this recommendation. It does not flow directly from the bill itself, but, during our consultations, it became very imperative to the public and the nature of this bill around ensuring rights to citizens to get the government to look into problems in the environment. It is consistent with the idea that there should not be obstacles to the public raising concerns and raising their voices when they see something wrong in their community, so I think this is a very important and worthy initiative of our successor Assembly, and I hope to see this legislation come forward. Thank you.

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

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Actually, I do not have any comments, but I do support the motion. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. To the motion.

Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried.

---Carried

Mr. Vanthuyne.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Lastly, I move that this committee recommends that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources coordinate to the highest possible degree the required report under the Environmental Rights Act with reporting requirements found in other environmental legislation for which it is responsible. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Vanthuyne. The motion is on the floor and has been distributed. The motion is in order. To the motion. Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Earlier, I mentioned that one of the improvements in the bill is going to be a state of the environment report that is required. There is state of the environment reporting already taking place, pursuant to the Mackenzie Valley Resources Management Act, part 6, and I guess committee felt that it was important to coordinate these sort of state of the environment reporting efforts no matter what piece of legislation they may be carried out under. Under the proposed forest act, there was supposed to be a state of the forest report, as well. ENR does a good job at pulling these sorts of efforts together. In fact, the Cumulative Impact Monitoring Program, which does do the tracking that feeds into the state of the environment report under the MVRMA, that program is now housed within ENR. I am sure that folks talk back and forth and so on, and maybe those individuals may actually be responsible for doing some of the reporting related to the state of environment report under this new bill, so committee felt it was important to make this recommendation about coordination and collaboration and doing these reports moving forward. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. To the motion.

Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried.

---Carried

Thank you, committee. Do you agree that you have concluded consideration of Committee Report 27-18(3), Report on Bill 39, Environmental Rights Act?

Thank you. Thank you, committee. We have concluded consideration of Committee Report 27-18(3), report on Bill 39, Environmental Rights Act. Thank you, committee. Committee, we have agreed to consider Bill 39, Environmental Rights Act. I will now ask the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources to introduce the bill. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am here to introduce Bill 39, the Environmental Rights Act. This bill takes steps to modernize and broaden the existing Environmental Rights Act in the Northwest Territories. The bill provides broader rights to:

• request an investigation, including clearer timelines and responsibilities of the Minister;
• prosecute an offence;
• bring forward an action; and
• protect employees who have engaged in processes under the Environmental Rights Act.

The bill also requires Executive Council to prepare a statement of environmental values and ensure that departments and select public bodies consider that statement in their decision-making.

Environment and Natural Resources has developed this bill through a partnership process with a technical working group that is comprised of Indigenous governments and organizations. Valuable input was also received from a stakeholder advisory committee, public engagement, consultation with Indigenous governments and organizations, and other Government of the Northwest Territories departments.

The department appreciates all comments and recommendations provided through the Standing Committee of Economic Development and Environment review process. The department is confident that the bill has become stronger with their amendments.

To ensure the public is aware of these modernizations to the Environmental Rights Act, the department will actively promote it through our regular communication methods.

That concludes my opening remarks, Mr. Chair. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister McLeod. 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.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I do not have additional comments at this time, other than comments provided previously when I presented the report. I will leave it to other Members, if they care to share comments. Thank you, Mr. Chair.