Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, similar to the previous speaker, I am in favour of the principle of the bill today.

Mr. Speaker, my primary reason for that today is that I think that we are having a very important conversation, and I would like to see that conversation move forward into committee where we can have a fulsome discussion about this issue, about the various issues around why this bill has come forward, and hear from all parties on it in a public manner through a fulsome committee process. And I think that that is really important. Similar to other speakers, I don't know what the ultimate outcome of that process will be, and that's what the committee process is for. And so I just want to be crystal clear this is second reading of the bill. The next step is it would go to committee for review. We're not putting a piece of legislation in force today.

Ultimately, I think a wider amendment to the Act is necessary so that all workers have the option to collect as they see fit and as they have a right to do under the Canadian Constitution. And for that reason, I -- Charter, Constitution as well. We know what we meant.

So I very much appreciated the joint news release from Cabinet and the Union of Northern Workers and was very happy to see that movement come forward, but I want to talk a little bit about the history of how we got here. And as the Member for Yellowknife North pointed out, this is something that has come up for a very long time, and nurses have been facing a significant amount of resistance to moving it forward. And so we were not seeing any indication this was moving forward in a timely manner, and it's not until the Private Member's bill became public that things started to move. And so I think that it -- that indicated to me that the Private Member's bill was necessary. It was necessary to get movement going.

As the Minister pointed out, there are some potential shortcomings to the bill. That's what second reading is for. We can explore this at committee and get into it in detail and figure out through that iterative process what the pros and cons of the bill are and whether committee is going to recommend it go forward. But generally speaking, I just wanted to note also, you know, I've heard from a number of nurses who I represent, and every single person that has gotten in touch with me -- and that includes people beyond nurses that work for the public service -- has been in had favour of this and has been asking me, and some of them with quite a fair bit of desperation, to support this initiative. Desperation coming from a workplace that we've talked a lot about in this Assembly, Mr. Speaker, where there's a lot of various pressures coming from different sides and a hope that this will give them the opportunity to represent themselves with their employer in such a way that gives them what they need to stay here, to do their jobs, to remain safe, and all the various other things that can come from being able to bargain collectively specifically for your profession.

So, Mr. Speaker, that wraps up pretty much what I have to say about it today. I just wanted to note that I think that this conversation is really important, and it's an important one for a number of different reasons, but one of them was the resistance that was being faced, and I think that this bill has started to open up that conversation and so I'd like to see that conversation continue. I think that the committee process is the place to have that conversation, at least in part, and I look forward to supporting the bill today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.