Thank you, Madam Chair. I am here today to present Bill 72, Opioid Damages and Health Care Costs Recovery Act.

The purpose of Bill 72 is to permit the Government of the Northwest Territories to file a lawsuit to recover from manufacturers and distributors of opioid drugs, the past and future health care costs incurred on behalf of Northwest Territories' residents for opioid-related illnesses. The opioid crisis has incurred substantial costs to federal, provincial, and territorial governments who have spent increasing amounts on health care to address the fallout of opioid over-prescription.

British Columbia has enacted its own opioid cost recovery legislation and is in active class action litigation before the Supreme Court of British Columbia. This action could include all federal, provincial, and territorial governments as potential class members in this lawsuit and seeks to recover the opioid-related health care costs of the potential class members.

Currently, the GNWT's ability to independently recover opioid damages is in question as the applicable limitation period has expired under the Limitation of Actions Act. As our legislation stands, the GNWT may be unable to recover health care costs under British Columbia's opioid action. The proposed legislation would not only remove the existing limitation period barrier to such a claim but also improve the likelihood of the opioid action's success by establishing a common issue across all jurisdictions with that legislation. This would simplify the advancement of the opioid action.

The proposed new act will:

• Provide a statutory basis to sue manufacturers and distributors of opioid drugs directly for opioid-related wrongs;
• Provide the ability to sue opioid producers and distributors on an aggregate basis without having to identify particular insured persons who suffered harm;
• Provide simplified formula to determine the individual share of liability for each opioid producer and/or manufacturer named in a lawsuit;
• Provide the ability to base claims of harm on statistical and sociological data; and,
• Extend limitation periods applicable to actions based on opioid-related harm.

Approximately eight other jurisdictions have enacted their own versions of this legislation, and the wording of the proposed new act is virtually identical to the existing legislation in other jurisdictions.

This concludes my opening remarks, and I would be happy to answer questions. Thank you.