Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to present Bill 51, An Act to Amend the Local Authorities Elections Act, to be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member. Pursuant to Rule 8.2(3), Bill 51 is deemed to have first reading and is ready for second reading.

First reading of bills. Minister of Finance.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to present to the House Bill 52, Supplementary Appropriation Act, (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 1, 2026-2027, to be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of Finance. Pursuant to Rule 8.2(3), Bill 52 is deemed to have first reading and is ready for second reading.

First reading of bills. Second reading of bills. Minister of Justice.

Thank you, Minister. The motion is in order. To the principal of the bill. Member from Frame Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have a few words to share about my thoughts and some thoughts I've heard from constituents about this bill prior to it being referred to the committee.

Mr. Speaker, SCAN stands out as being distinct from the other two pieces of public safety legislation which were shown, those being the Civil Forfeiture and the Trespass Act. They were kind of presented as a tripartite set of legislation on public safety by the government. Those two pieces were shown to be common to other jurisdictions and had established precedent to serve as an example of their utility. SCAN is unique in that it has not been widely adopted across Canada. Rather, there are a mix of jurisdictions with it and without it. And, furthermore, research has shown that results where it has been adopted are also mixed.

And, interestingly, Mr. Speaker, responses to the government's engagement on the legislation were mixed as well. I want to read a little bit from the What We Heard report that the government published on SCAN.

The What We Heard report found that feedback on SCAN legislation showed support for having tools to deal with problem properties along with concerns about whether the law could do more harm than good. Participants expressed frustration with known drug houses operating openly in their communities and supported stronger enforcement options. And I certainly understand where that frustration is coming from and the desire to see this legislation as a result. At the same time, many questioned whether SCAN would truly address organized criminal activities or whether it would more likely affect vulnerable residents whose properties are exploited while serious traffickers simply move elsewhere.

Written submissions showed strong polarization. And that's the words of the What We Heard report itself. Social service organizations and housing advocates strongly opposed SCAN, while some Indigenous governments and business groups expressed strong support. Survey respondents were evenly split on whether SCAN would be effective, even though most agreed that problem properties are a serious concern. So nobody's disagreeing that problem properties are a concern, and certainly I don't disagree with that, Mr. Speaker. The question is how to deal with it.

Mr. Speaker, I had our research team do a detailed jurisdictional review on this. I wanted to understand more about jurisdictions that have implemented SCAN and the successes or lack thereof that they've had, and a detailed jurisdictional review suggested that SCAN-style legislation can provide governments and enforcement agencies with an additional civil tool to address properties associated with repeated unlawful activity; however, the jurisdictional SCAN does not show strong or consistent public evidence that SCAN regimes have reduced drug-related crime or improved long-term community safety.

The responses also repeatedly raised concerns that these measures may shift harms onto tenants and other vulnerable populations particularly where housing insecurity, addiction, or civil liberties concerns are already significant. Notably, my research also found that an aspect of Yukon's SCAN legislation was found unconstitutional with reporting emphasizing concerns about procedural fairness, psychological harm, and the risk of homelessness for affected residents.

And, certainly, Mr. Speaker, I have met with residents of the encampment that exists in my riding. I would note that in some cases the situations that we are talking about here with SCAN are exactly what led people to be homeless, and I think it's important to think about that, the impacts that evicting people can have. People do end up having to go somewhere. They end up somewhere. Often it's in things like encampments. People do need a place to go even if they have been evicted for good reason.

I want to note that several constituents have approached me to raise concerns about the adoption of SCAN legislation here in the territory. I have also heard support for it I want to be clear, but the balance of comments I've received thus far have fallen to the side which is concern and not supportive of it.

I would also note that, interestingly, common among these residents who have raised concern is that they lived in a jurisdiction where it was implemented, and it was seen by them to do more harm than good. This really does give me pause, and I greatly appreciate constituents reaching out to me to share their thoughts on this and encourage them to continue to do so whether they're supportive or not. I want to hear from people on what they feel about this. I think the committee review of this is going to be interesting.

I do not want in any way to diminish the concerns and frustrations my colleagues and members of the public have shared concerning the impact of drugs in their communities. I share those concerns as well. Where I raise concern here is in keeping with what public has shared so far. Results of SCAN legislation elsewhere have been mixed, and there's not a lot of evidence to show that it has necessarily been effective at reducing drug use or crime. That's where I am concerned.

As this is a government bill, and I know there is some strong support for bringing this forward, I expect this bill to pass second reading and proceed to committee review today. I am taking the position I am, which is not supportive of the bill, to ensure my constituents who have raised concerns feel heard and their concerns are noted on the record for committee as they will soon be proceeding with their review, as I am convinced. I am not at this time sure that SCAN will be a positive step for our territory, and I am going to be monitoring committee's review of this bill carefully with the hope that concerns being raised about this legislation might be alleviated by thoughtful amendments and review of the bill.

So I certainly support the committee in reviewing the bill, but at this time the balance of comments I've heard from my constituents have been that they are concerned about it, they do not want to see me supporting it, and that's how I will be voting today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Frame Lake. To the principal of the bill. Member from Great Slave.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will not be as eloquent as my colleague. I will take up far less time and I will keep it brief.

Mr. Speaker, I will be supporting second reading. I will be following committee's work with earnest interest. I do not have any constituents who have come to me and said that they are against the bill. I think what I've heard mainly is they have reservations and concerns with what that might look like so that is why I will be spending time with social development to understand the implications of this bill.

I have heard also from residents of Yellowknife that they would much prefer the tools be given to the residential tenancies office. They're not entirely certain why a new office is required to be created to solve this problem and indeed I share those same concerns.

And although I hear my colleagues on this side of the House loud and clear that they want this to proceed, I am not certain at this point whether this legislation can live up to their expectations and how they're looking at it to solve problems that they see. But, again, I think that that investigation by committee can help look into those questions and reservations that I have.

I also share concerns that my colleagues spoke to about evictions creating knock-on problems, such as homelessness, and so I hope that committee does study that as well.

With that said, Mr. Speaker, I will defer to the good work of committee that I know is ahead of them, and I will support second reading. Thank you.

Thank you, Member from Great Slave. To the principle of the bill. Member from Yellowknife Centre.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think it's important to note that we need to give our our system -- I will say it that way -- every opportunity to stand up to crime and I think -- so speaking to the principle of the bill is this is very important that we provide that enhanced tool to provide those challenges and tools so we can meet them upfront. No one is suggesting that this is a perfect tool but what we are suggesting is the committee hopefully will provide some advice and regulations will make it as perfect or reasonable as possible.

Mr. Speaker, a fair road is still ahead of us on the review of this particular initiative, but primarily coming from the community is they want something in response to these challenges. People can blame their woes on this and that but one of the things that we're certainly seeing is that there are elements of fighting crime or confronting crime has slowly been seeping forward or moving forward in this government -- Thankfully something's happening -- so this tool could be helping deal with these broader issues.

Now this is not a social services tool. Let us be clear. This is a tool to deal with problems with crime in the community. It is not a tool, if I understand it correctly, that will be used by the RCMP. It will have a civil action process which is much swifter than a criminal process to address this. Will there be bumps and bangs along the way? I suspect there will be but I suspect no legislation is perfect. Clearly, we've seen challenges with others, which we've discussed earlier today without going into any detail of course, Mr. Speaker.

That said, Mr. Speaker, I support any public safety community initiative that helps allow people to feel safe in their communities and furthermore feel that the system itself is stepping up and protecting them. There are many seniors who've come to me to complain and exercise frustration that they do not feel enough is being done. This particular legislation is yet one more step forward. I don't know if we require more types of legislation to move forward. I don't know, but time will tell. But the important factor is -- and I want to leave with this -- this is inching the problem forward in a way towards a solution, and every step or every little inch we take working on this is good. Because people feel that their communities have been taken away from them. Seniors tell me they are not safe. Parents are telling me they're uncomfortable with their children out there with some of the risks that we see today. And there's always this feeling of hopelessness that the general public tells me that they feel the system is not there for them; it's more worried about the violators of good public responsibility. It's the sense that they feel that that is perceived as more important than kids playing on the streets, people feeling safe walking home, people knowing that their neighbourhoods are good.

Yes, there will be a whole lot of concerns about providing addiction processes. That's a broader picture. Housing processes, I agree with those as well. But they are not this legislation. This is about taking streets back. Mr. Speaker, and I will finish off by saying I'd like to see a recorded vote on this reading. Thank you.

Thank you, Member from Yellowknife Centre. To the principal of the bill. Member from Mackenzie Delta.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will be supporting the second reading of this SCAN legislation. I came back from my home community prior to session and there have been a lot of concern around the community and the residents of even having their children play outside during broad daylight because there's activities going on within public housing units. The tenants are hiding behind these doors. Everybody in the community know where these drug dealers that come from out of the community into our community and pose threat on our residents, especially the children when they can't even play outside in broad daylight. There's people walking around but police are not doing anything about it. I think this will be a good tool to give the authorities to try and stop the illegal trade of alcohol or drugs.

It's more evident in these smaller communities where I come from. Even sitting here in Yellowknife, I get calls saying they're at this place, and I know where they're at. So we have to give the authorities more tools to deal with that, especially the drug situation. I haven't seen it this bad before, and it's the younger generation that's being plagued with this crisis. So I will be supporting the second reading of this bill. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Mackenzie Delta. To the principle of the bill. Member from the Sahtu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I too will be supporting this bill here, or this second reading. One of the main reasons, several years ago that I wanted to sit on the social development committee was to help our communities, and this is a means I see in helping our communities for a safer environment for all ages of that community and the rest of our community. So in short, Mr. Speaker, I look forward to my continued working with the colleagues to support SCAN. Mahsi.

Thank you, Member from the Sahtu. To the principle of the bill. Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, one of the 20th Assembly's priorities is talking about public safety, and we have four priorities. And we all know that we are in a drug crisis right now in our communities in the Northwest Territories, and that's something that we've never seen for a long time where I've been to so many funerals as the MLA and former chief and band councillor in my lifetime, and it's really hitting home. And this bill and second reading, it's something I support right from day one. It's to give the RCMP more tools needed to do their jobs in our communities. I know that we had problems -- big problems in public housing where drug dealers are coming into our community and taking over these units, and it's a scary situation, you know, where I hear firsthand from the RCMP, you know, the seriousness of these problems we're having in the community with drug activities and weapons and so on. It's a big problem. You know, like here in Yellowknife, when I think back going back to early 80s, we never thought about that, that we had a problem then. But when you look back now, it's a big problem in our community. So, you know, I know that we have drug problems in our public housing units and then RCMP will come in and, you know, evict -- or housing will come in and evict the individuals because of the drug activity. I know that there's still gaps in our system to address the housing crisis we have in our community as well but -- and to deal with homelessness, etcetera. But, Mr. Speaker, to this government and the 20th Assembly made public safety a top priority, one of their top four priorities. And so the way I look at it, this second reading it only gives more tools to the RCMP needed to do their job so therefore, Mr. Speaker, I will be supporting this second reading of this motion. Thank you.

Thank you, Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. To the principle of the bill. Member from Monfwi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, further to what my colleagues have said, I know that when we first started, public safety was on our agenda. It is a priority for this government. So I do appreciate this bill.

Living in the small communities, you know, there's a lot of issues. There's a lot of issues with drugs and crimes that we have never seen before. And it's -- you know, the stats in the Northwest Territories, especially for crimes, is bad. Now it's going to be even more worse than what is presented. So even my colleagues talk about the public housing. Yes, the public housing, we can use this legislation but for private dwellings, the drug dealers are moving into private dwellings and there's not much that we can do. That's what we've been hearing. And with this bill, it will help because a lot of private dwellings or homeowners, they are scared, you know. They're scared for their life, and they're scared for if they go against them, what's going to happen to their house. And that's what we've been hearing. And they're all vulnerable. A lot of them are vulnerable, so. And I've been hearing, and you've been seeing it on social media too as well, that, you know, I have heard many of our residents, even our leaders, you know, they welcome this SCAN legislation. And many have said that we want to take back our communities that is currently overrun by drugs and crimes. They want to see, and I would like to see a lot of our young children live in a safe place and play. You know, they should not be worried about vehicles, unknown vehicles, or drug dealers in the communities. Because a lot of them, they're luring young girls and young boys, and it's really bad. And I do welcome this bill, and I will support it for the safety of our children so they can enjoy their community as we have done when we were young. Thank you.

Thank you, Member from Monfwi. To the principle of the bill. Member from Inuvik Boot Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just briefly, I thank the Minister of Justice for bringing this forward. Thank them for the work that they've done to date. I support this bill to go to second reading. I spoke to some former Members. This is not the first time this bill has been brought to this House in previous assemblies. I spoke to residents, constituents. I've spoke to law enforcement agencies. So I've had some great conversations around this. I really look forward to the work that committee will now do to continue this important piece of legislation, and I will be supporting to get it to committee. Thank you.

Thank you, Member from Inuvik Boot Lake. To the principle of the bill. Member from the Deh Cho.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I too will be -- listening to all my colleagues and all the things that they said, we are really going through a not easy time in the Northwest Territories here in our communities. It doesn't matter whether you're connected by road or you have to fly in, it seems like safety has become a real issue in our territory now more than ever. And we need to look at how we can do some things that will prevent safety from becoming a real big issue in our community. So working together and then looking at this bill will bring us a little closer to having our communities be safe, so therefore I will be supporting this for the second reading. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from the Deh Cho. To the principal of the bill. Member from Range Lake.