Mahsi, Mr. O'Reilly. Committee, to the bill as a whole, does the committee agree that Bill 58, An Act to amend the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act, is now ready for third reading?

Agreed. Thank you, committee. Does committee agree that this concludes our consideration of Bill 58, An Act to Amend the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act?

Agreed, mahsi. Thank you, Member for Hay River South and thank you to your witnesses. Sergeant-at-arms, please escort the witnesses from the Chamber. Mahsi.

Committee, we have agreed to consider Bill 59, An Act to Amend the Elections and Plebiscites Act. I will ask the sponsor of the bill, the Member for Hay River South, to introduce the bill.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I am pleased to speak to Bill 59: An Act to amend the Elections and Plebiscites Act. The bill proposes some changes to the act. These are being made on the recommendation of the chief electoral officer and the Standing Committee on Rules and Procedure. If passed, the changes will be in place for the next general election in 2023.

Some changes relate to the register of electors (voters list). If the bill is passed, Elections NWT will be able to share information from the voters list with municipalities running elections and the Electoral Boundaries Commission. 16- and 17-year-olds will be able to register with Elections NWT and automatically be added to the voters list on their 18th birthday. The bill will also allow emails to be kept as part of the voters list.

Finally, the CEO will be able to get information from public bodies to help keep the voters list current.

Other changes in the bill will mean that returning officers will no longer post the home address of candidates and official agents. Instead, they will post what community they live in.

The bill changes the start day of advance polling from 24 to 21 days before an election. The bill makes a number of changes to set deadlines based on business days rather than calendar days. This ensures all reporting deadlines fall on a regular business day.

In terms of polling stations, the bill makes some minor changes including removing the need for two electors to witness the count, requiring returning officers to report if they appoint a police officer to maintain security at a polling station, and allowing the CEO to provide direction on the use of cell phones at polling stations.

The bill creates an election rebate program which allows a candidate, who is acclaimed or receives 5 percent or more of the votes cast, to apply for a rebate of some of their personal money spent on their campaign. Candidates will not be able to get a rebate for any personal funds they contribute that is eligible for a tax rebate under tax laws.

The bill includes specific information that must be included in regulations if online voting is being used for absentee ballots.

That concludes my remarks on Bill 59. I am pleased to hear comments or respond to questions from committee. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Member for Hay River South, would you like to bring witnesses into the Chamber?

Yes, I do, Mr. Chair.

Sergeant-at-arms, please escort the witnesses into the Chamber.

Member for Hay River South, please introduce your witnesses.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. To my left is Stephen Flanagan, legislative drafter. To my right is Glen Rutland, deputy clerk, House procedure and committees. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mahsi. I will now open the floor to general comments on Bill 59, An Act to Amend the Elections and Plebiscites Act.

Seeing no general comments from committee, is committee agreed that there are no further general comments?

Agreed. Can we proceed to a clause by clause review of the bill?

Committee, we will defer the bill number and title until after consideration of the clauses. I will call the clauses in groups. Please turn to page 1 of the bill.

Clause 1, does committee agree?

---Clauses 1 through 10 inclusive approved

Clause 11, does committee agree?

Clause 12, does committee agree? Mr. Johnson, was that on 11?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. What this clause is proposing is it is presently illegal to sell liquor on polling day in the NWT according to this act. And in our infinite wisdom we're going to make it illegal to also sell cannabis on polling day. So instead of having one archaic and outdated law, we're going to have two. What was the point of legalizing cannabis if we're just going to close some random licensed premises? I can guarantee almost no one knows. I don't even know why we would be doing this. I think this is an absolutely ridiculous suggestion, and I am not in favour of it. Thank you.

Mahsi. Member for Hay River South.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And I'll take that as a comment.

Mr. Johnson. Clause 12, does committee agree?

---Clauses 11 through 32 inclusive approved

Committee, to the bill as a whole, does committee agree that Bill 59, An Act to Amend the Elections and Plebiscites Act, is now ready for third reading?