This is page numbers 1153 - 1196 of the Hansard for the 19th Assembly, 2nd 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 seniors.

Topics

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Minister. Member for Frame Lake.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Thanks, Madam Chair. How would the public actually know about these extensions or variations? Thanks, Madam Chair.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Member. Minister of Justice.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Caroline Wawzonek

Caroline Wawzonek Yellowknife South

Thank you, Madam Chair. Any orders here are to be published on a website that will be maintained by the Government of the Northwest Territories. They will also be part of the monthly publication in the Northwest Territories Gazette. Both of those are requirements of the Act itself. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Minister. Member for Frame Lake.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Thanks, Madam Chair. How does the bill set out that Cabinet is going to work with Regular MLAs in looking at what orders might come forward? Thanks, Madam Chair.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Member. Minister of Justice.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Caroline Wawzonek

Caroline Wawzonek Yellowknife South

Thank you, Madam Chair. Again, that is actually also part of the Act itself where it does say that the order is not to be made until seven days after a copy is provided to the Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight, so the intention there being that any such orders are being put through a process of review and consideration by the whole of the Assembly. Thank you.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Minister. Member for Frame Lake.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Thanks, Madam Chair. I just want to get some assurance from the Minister that this is not just giving notice to the standing committee. If the committee has concerns or issues with a particular order, that Cabinet would seriously consider any representations that might be raised by the committee; Regular MLAs, essentially? Thanks, Madam Chair.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Member. Minister of Justice.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Caroline Wawzonek

Caroline Wawzonek Yellowknife South

Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes. Any of these orders, they do have to go through all of Cabinet. They are not just exclusive to one Minister. That said, there is also going to be input from the department. I can't say for sure, but I would expect that if one particular department requires something, that the committee will hear from that department to understand the full context of what's happening and why. Really, again, Madam Chair, my hope would be that there won't, hopefully, be too many of these occasions or that we can do them, but that when we do have to do them, of course, if we are in front of committee which is meant to be an engaged process and not a one-way process. Thank you.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Minister. Member for Frame Lake.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Thanks, Madam Chair. I guess I have a few comments I want to make with my remaining three minutes. I want to commend the Minister and my colleagues in Cabinet for bringing this forward. I know, early on during the pandemic, I actually sent an email to the Minister saying, "Geez, we're going to be sitting soon. Is there any legislative changes that we should look at making in terms of COVID response and planning and recovery and so on?" This, eventually, ended up on our desks.

This is something that other jurisdictions have done, so this is not something terribly unusual. Other jurisdictions in southern Canada have, perhaps, done it in different ways and so on. I am prepared to support this. I want to commend the Minister and her staff for working with us as Regular MLAs to make some important improvements to this bill and changes. There's a purpose section in here now that sort of better explains and maybe restricts the ways in which the authority can be exercised.

Certainly, the Regular MLAs, we worked hard to make sure that some specific pieces of legislation were exempted or outside the scope of this including access to information, the Health Information Act, and the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act itself, and that the act itself cannot be used in a way that would allow Cabinet to unilaterally extend things.

I'm happy to have worked with Cabinet on this, and it is a collective effort. It is very unusual times, and we don't want to inconvenience our residents with deadlines running out. We want to provide for business continuity. I am prepared to support this with the important improvements that Regular MLAs made.

The process that we're going through with this bill is quite extraordinary as well. Normally, bills go off to standing committee where they can be studied. We take public input, and Regular MLAs can then propose changes, try to work with our Cabinet colleagues to improve bills based on public comment and our own advice, and so on. That is not the process that is being used for this bill, but I think it's a reflection of the extraordinary times that we are in and the compressed time frame of this sitting and so on. It is not the usual process that we are going through, but I want to assure Members of the public that it is time limited, that we have worked with Cabinet to put some reasonable limitations in here. Based on that, I am prepared to support the bill. Thanks, Madam Chair.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Are there any further questions or comments? All right. Does the committee agree that there are no further general comments?

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Some Hon. Members

Agreed.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

We will proceed to a clause-by-clause review of the bill. Can we proceed to a clause-by-clause review of the bill?

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Some Hon. Members

Agreed.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Committee, we will defer the bill number and title until after consideration of the clauses. Please turn to page 3 if you have the bill. Clause 1, does committee agree?

---Clauses 1 through 4 inclusive approved

Committee, to the bill as a whole, does committee agree that Bill 10, Temporary Variation of Statutory Time Periods (COVID-19 Pandemic Measures) Act, is now ready for third reading?

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Some Hon. Members

Agreed.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, committee. Bill 10, Temporary Variation of Statutory Time Periods (COVID-19 Pandemic Measures) Act, is now ready for third reading. Does committee agree that this concludes our consideration of Bill 10, Temporary Variation of Statutory Time Periods (COVID-19 Pandemic Measures) Act?

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Some Hon. Members

Agreed.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you. Thank you, Minister, and thank you to our witness. Sergeant-at-Arms, you may escort the witness from the Chamber.

Committee, we have agreed to consider Committee Report 1-19(2), Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment Report on Long-term Post-pandemic Recovery: Recommendations to the GNWT, and Committee Report 3-19(2), Standing Committee on Social Development Report on Long-term Post-pandemic Recovery: Recommendations to the GNWT.

We will begin with Committee Report 1-19(2), Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment Report on Long-term Post-pandemic Recovery: Recommendations to the GNWT. Does the chair of the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment have any opening remarks?

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Jackie Jacobson

Jackie Jacobson Nunakput

Thank you, Madam Chair. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, standing committees have continued to meet regularly. The GNWT's response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the long-term recovery of our economy and the territory have been focused on many of discussions that we have been having. The Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment as well as other standing committees have worked in tandem to develop committee reports that we read into the House earlier this week. As chair of the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment, I am pleased to introduce the report. I would like to thank all of my committee members for all their contributions to this report. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Member for Nunakput. Committee, we have agreed to forego general comments on the report and proceed directly to the recommendations. Member for Nunakput.