Thank you. We'll take a short break. Thank you.

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I am going to call committee back to order. Consideration in Committee of the Whole of bills and other matters, Bill 17, Municipal and Community Affairs Statutes Amendment Act. Committee, we have agreed to consider Bill 17, Municipal and Community Affairs Statutes Amendment Act. I will ask the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs to introduce the bill.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm pleased to present Bill 17, Municipal and Community Affairs Statutes Amendment Act.

Bill 17 amends three Acts: The Fire Prevention Act, the NWT 9-1-1 Act, and the Western Canada Lottery Act. The purpose of the bill is to adjust the reporting timelines required under the three Acts to provide sufficient time for MACA to collect and the data from various sources to ensure accurate and comprehensive reporting.

This Bill amends the Fire Prevention Act reporting period for the fire marshal's report to the Minister to reflect the fiscal year and to have the report due to the Minister in September. Making these changes will provide the Office of the Fire Marshal more time to collect and validate the data from community governments.

Additionally, this bill amends the NWT 9-1-1 Act and the Western Canada Lottery Acts to require each Act's annual report to be tabled in the Legislative Assembly within 180 days of the end of the fiscal year. The amendments also allow the reports to be tabled during the next sitting of the Legislative Assembly if the Legislative Assembly is not sitting on the expiry of the period.

So these changes reflect the operational realities we face while maintaining our commitment to transparency to the public. By aligning our reporting timelines with the practicalities of the data collecting and validation, we ensure that our reports are both accurate and comprehensive.

I look forward to hearing comments from the Members and answering any questions they may have. Thank you.

Thank you. Minister, would you like to bring witnesses into the chamber?

Yes, please.

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

Minister, please introduce your wbitnesses.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. With me, I have Catherine Boyd, director of corporate services. And Ryan Semak, senior legislation advisor.

Thank you. I will now turn to the chair of the Standing Committee on Government Operations, the committee that reviewed the bill for any opening comments on Bill 17. Mr. Morse.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, Bill 17, the Municipal and Community Affairs Statutes Amendment Act, received second reading in the Legislative Assembly on February 10, 2025, and was referred to the Standing Committee on Government Operations for review.

On April 22nd, 2025, the standing committee held a public hearing with the Minister of Municipal anda Community Affairs and completed its clause-by-clause review of the bill. I thank the committee for their efforts in reviewing this legislation. Individual Members, of course, may have additional comments. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I'd like to thank the Member from Frame Lake. I will now open the floor to general comments. Is there any general comments?

Okay, seeing none. Does the committee agree that there are no further general comments? Agreed?

Can we proceed to clause-by-clause review of the bill?

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 the committee agree?

Thank you. Clause 2, does the committee agree?

Thank you. Clause 3, does the committee agree?

Thank you. Returning to the bill's number and title. Bill 17, Municipal and Community Affairs Statutes Amendment Act, does the committee agree?

To the bill as a whole, does the committee agree?

Does the committee agree that bill 17, Municipal and Community Affairs Statutes Amendment Act, is now ready for third reading? Does the committee agree?