Thank you, Madam Chair. I am here today to present Bill 79, An Act to Amend the Judicature Act.
The purpose of Bill 79 is to bring the Northwest Territories into compliance with the Canadian Free Trade Agreement; and, to make unrelated improvements to the functioning of the Court of Appeal.
The Canadian Free Trade Agreement is an intergovernmental agreement between the Canadian provinces and territories which has replaced the former Agreement on Internal Trade. The Government of the Northwest Territories signed the new agreement in April 2017 and is now obligated to make changes to our legislation which will ensure trade orders of a presiding body or compliance panel established under the agreement have, once filed, the same force and effect as an order of our superior court. This amendment will come into effect retroactively to January 1st, 2019.
During engagement with the judiciary, two unrelated additional changes were suggested that could help improve the functioning of the Court of Appeal. The Act will be amended to provide that a Court of Appeal judge who ceases to hold office may still grant judgment on pending matters within a certain timeframe. It will also be amended to provide that if a judge who has sat on a Court of Appeal panel is unable to continue with a case, the other two judges may render judgment on the appeal if it is unanimous. This will reduce the need for cases to be re-heard should a presiding judge become unavailable to conclude a case in these circumstances.
This concludes my opening remarks, and I will be pleased to answer any questions that committee members may have. Thank you.