Thank you, Madam Chair. The intention is to make that sort of definition in the regulations. That will happen after consultation after the act is passed and before it is brought into force.

Thank you, Madam Chair. To my left I have Janis Cooper, legislative counsel for the Department of Justice; and on my right, Blair Barbour, who is legislative policy advisor, policy and planning, Education, Culture and Employment.

Yes, Madam Chair, please.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I am pleased to introduce Bill 14, Employment Standards Act. The purpose of this legislation is to modernize the statutory framework for employment standards in the Northwest Territories. To that end, this bill proposes to replace the Labour Standards Act, the Employment Agencies Act and the Wages Recovery Act with comprehensive legislation for employment standards.

This bill is based primarily on consultation that was conducted with the public in late 2004 by the Department of Justice. The department received feedback from different stakeholders, including GNWT departments, employers and employer organizations, labour organizations and individual stakeholders. The general consensus of stakeholders was that the regulatory framework for employment standards in the Northwest Territories was in need of change.

The proposed bill is substantively similar to existing legislation with regard to the regulation of employment standards and employment agencies. In addition, the bill:

• • exempts certain employers and employees, or classes of employers and employees, from the general provisions of the act, by regulation;
• • incorporates provisions respecting the employment of young persons;
• • establishes new days of rest requirements;
• • allows employees to receive lieu time with pay instead of overtime where the employer agrees;
• • provides for the establishment of a minimum wage, by regulation;
• • requires that employees be granted an annual vacation with vacation pay within six months after the first year of employment;
• •
• • establishes the right of employees to unpaid compassionate leave, bereavement leave, sick leave and court leave;
• • requires that employers give advance notice of termination to affected employees and their trade union where large numbers of employees are to be terminated at one time;
• • establishes a new complaints process and provides for the resolution of complaints by an employment standards officer;
• • establishes a new appeal process by which individual adjudicators hear appeals of decisions made by the employment standards officer;
• • establishes the priority of employee wages over other claims against an employer to a maximum amount of $7,500 per employee; and
• • restricts access to information provided under the act that could identify the parties to a complaint or appeal.

Madam Chair, I would like to thank the members of the Standing Committee on Social Programs for their assistance and constructive suggestions to improve the bill. I trust that the members of the committee will agree that a new Employment Standards Act is necessary to provide a modern, clear and coherent regulatory framework for employment standards in the Northwest Territories.

I will be pleased to answer any questions the members of this committee may have.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document entitled The Feasibility of Whistleblower Protection in the Government of the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I have said, the department has consistently over the years found money to provide extra funding to organizations like NACC and we will continue to do that. I have no doubt that the new government will find the resources to increase the funding to the arts. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. No, I won't admit that. This government has invested considerable time and energy in developing an NWT Arts Strategy. After the first strategy was developed and tabled in this House, we also brought the people who helped develop it, along with others, back together to review the strategy and advise us on how to further develop it. Both ECE and ITI have, over the life of this government, increased funding into the arts; ECE specifically into the funding that goes to the NWT Arts Council. That has seen an increase during the life of this government. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The issue has always been one of finding adequate funds to be able to develop our programs. We're not in a situation where we have ever had excess funds that we could throw around. Over the course of this government, we have been trying to get, for instance, the pupil/teacher ratio back to where it was back in 1984. An important thing like education, this government has been struggling to be able to get back to the standards that we had 10, 15 years ago before we had substantial cuts in our funding by the federal government. So it's been a challenge for us to increase funding. However, over the past two years, the department has been able to find an extra $30,000 a year to assist the Northern Arts and Cultural Centre over and above what their core funding has been. So we're aware of the issue and where we've been able to help out, we have moved to do that. We agree that it's time to move on increasing their core funding and it will be one of the priorities that is brought forward by the department for the new government to consider.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to make it perfectly clear that their application for increased funding has not been turned down. I think there's perhaps a lack of understanding here on the timing of how our budget process works. An application that was received by this government after the budget was passed this past spring would normally be put into the budget process for the next budget, for the next budget year, and decisions for that budget will be made, of course, by the next government because this government won't be in place to pass that budget. So the application is still in place; it would be considered.

I'd like to also make sure that Members are aware that over the past two years we have found extra money for the Northern Arts and Cultural Centre. We're aware of the deficit situation and I have advised them that we are looking for ways to help them resolve their current deficit, and their application, then, for an increase in the budget will be considered as part of the process for developing the next budget. Thank you.