Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Accessible Design for Buildings

The committee heard the commission's concern that many NWT businesses and service providers believe that the National Building Code sets the standard for accessibility and that "compliance with this code allows them to meet their responsibilities under the Human Rights Act." The commission says this is not always the case.

The commission held an International Human Rights Day event with the theme "accessibility" in Yellowknife. Mr. Van Dyke presented on how the National Building Code affects him as a person with a disability. The commission expressed much concern about limitations of full accessibility for all in the NWT.

The commission believes accessibility is one of the most important parts of building a healthy community. The commission is concerned about the barriers that prevent full accessibility, including:

• the lack of connection between the requirements set out in the National Building Code and what is actually considered an accessible space;
• that the ongoing update of the National Building Code will be completed soon; and
• that the National Building Code in the NWT include reference to Canadian Standards Association standard B651-18, "Accessible Design for the Built Environment."

For the coming year, the commission will campaign on the relationship between the National Building Code and the act to enable NWT businesses and service providers to better understand their rights and responsibilities under the act.

The committee recognizes the need for the GNWT to ensure that residents have equitable access to opportunities and services and that standards and codes adopted in the NWT are consistent with legislation.

Other options under discussion are that the GNWT adopt the National Building Code to have legislation that includes rules for accessibility. One challenge is that the code is part of the Fire Prevention Regulations by the Fire Marshall. This could mean that accessibility is not a priority, as the code sets a minimum requirement for buildings that may not meet the requirements under the human rights law.

Committee agrees that NWT residents, builders, and building owners need to know what is required to make a building completely accessible. Committee also identified many points that are unclear regarding who is responsible for funding accessible building design or renovations. It is not clear whether the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs would be responsible for retrofits and, if yes, whether this would apply to communities outside of Yellowknife or not.

Finally, the committee wondered whether the GNWT would consider incentives for builders to use building designs in projects such as small-scale construction, renovation, or retrofit programming that would provide the accessibility requirements under the NWT Human Rights Act.

Consequently, the committee recommends:

Recommendation 1

The Standing Committee on Government Operations recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories investigate and take the necessary steps to solve the issues, and remove the barriers, that prevent the alignment between building codes and standards and the Human Rights Act.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will now pass the reading of the report on to the Member for Deh Cho.