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

Minister, please introduce your witnesses for the record.

Thank you, Madam Chair. On my left is Cherie Jarock, legislative counsel, and on my right is Kelly Mahoney, director of policy for the Department of Health and Social Services.

Thank you. I will now turn to the chair of the Standing Committee on Social Development, the committee that reviewed the bill for any opening comments on Bill 40. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, Bill 40, an Act to Amend the Medical Profession Act, received second reading in the Legislative Assembly on November 26th, 2021, and was referred to the Standing Committee on Social Development for review on March 28th, 2022. Committee sought and received an extension to our review period.

On May 19th, 2022, the standing committee held a public hearing with the Minister of Health and Social Services and completed its clause-by-clause review of the bill. Ten motions were carried by committee and concurred with by the Minister.

I thank the stakeholders who provided feedback, Members of the standing committee for their efforts in reviewing this legislation, and of course the Minister of Health and Social Services for her collaboration in improving this bill together.

Individual Members may have additional comments or questions. Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

Thank you. I will now open the floor to general comments on Bill 40. Member for Frame Lake.

Thanks, Madam Chair. I want to thank the committee and the Minister for the work on the bill. I was able to sit in on a lot of the committee proceedings and discussions, deliberations about this bill.

The one improvement that the Minister did not mention, that I think is worthy of highlighting here, is that the addition of section 24.1 which modifies the way in which the work on regulating the medical profession is going to change.

This new clause, which was proposed by the committee and accepted by the Minister, but it was proposed by the committee, requires that there be consultation with the Northwest Territories Medical Association that was -- that's not in the existing legislation. So I think this will create a higher level of comfort moving forward.

I think there were some miscommunications around how the profession is actually regulated in the North and perhaps some misunderstanding about how the medical profession is regulated in the Northwest Territories, but I think with the addition in particular of this clause, I think it has created a level of comfort that was not there before and some protection for the medical profession. So I want to thank the committee for their work on this. Thanks, Madam Chair.

Thank you. Are there any further general comments? Does the committee agree that there are no further general comments? Member for Great Slave.

Thank you, Member. Are there any further general comments? Does committee agree that there are no further general comments? Can we proceed to the clause-by-clause review of Bill 40, An Act to Amend the Medical Profession Act?

Committee, a number of clauses were deleted during the Standing Committee on Social Development's clause-by-clause review of Bill 40 on May 19th, 2022. The reprint before us today indicates where those clauses were deleted. As the clauses were deleted by standing committee with a concurrent of the Minister of Health and Social Services, they are not part of the bill before us today, and we will not be voting on them.

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

Clause 1, does committee agree?

Clause 2, does committee agree?

Clause 3 and 4 were deleted in Standing Committee on May 19, 2022.

Clause 5, does committee agree?

Clause 6, does committee agree?

Clause 7, does committee agree?

Clause 8, does committee agree?

Clause 9, does committee agree?

Clause 10, does committee agree?