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Crucial Fact

  • His favourite word was going.
Historical Information Cory Vanthuyne is no longer a member of the Legislative Assembly.

Last in the Legislative Assembly September 2019, as MLA for Yellowknife North

Lost his last election, in 2019, with 36% of the vote.

Statements in the House

Committee Motion 252-18(3): Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment Report on the Process Used for Devolution Legislative Initiatives - Comprehensive Briefing on Legislative Process for Technical Working Group, Carried August 21st, 2019

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think again you can predict where this is going. This motion clearly outlines some of the challenges that we faced while we were on the road when we were dealing or interacting with different stakeholders. The two primary instances are one, that they felt that they needed to better understand what this process was about, so we feel that having a comprehensive briefing on the legislation process would be very good for those who are involved in the technical working groups from their particular regions; and then, secondly, time and time again, no matter where we went, people felt that, frankly, we were the government, and they could not delineate between ourselves and the departments on many occasions, and so we feel that there is some better understanding that needs to be put out there, and this is what this motion promotes. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Committee Motion 252-18(3): Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment Report on the Process Used for Devolution Legislative Initiatives - Comprehensive Briefing on Legislative Process for Technical Working Group, Carried August 21st, 2019

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this committee recommends that each technical working group receive a comprehensive briefing on the legislative process and where the technical working group fits within that process; and further, this briefing should make it clear to participants that each bill undergoes a two-stage process, involving public consultation and development at the bill-development stage, led by the sponsoring Minister, and a second in-depth review, led by standing committees, once a bill is introduced in the Legislative Assembly, which can include public hearings, research, and independent analysis. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Committee Motion 251-18(3) Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment Report on the Process Used for Devolution Legislative Initiatives - Plain Language Materials, Carried August 21st, 2019

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Again, I think this is a motion that speaks for itself, but one of the experiences that we had was sometimes we were receiving plain language rather late. In some instances it was right at the day of us conducting a public hearing. In some cases, depending on the bill, we would receive plain language that came in the form of one document, and that would be fine, but then, when we would take a different bill on the road, we had plain language material for that particular bill that came in the form of five or six pieces of documents. There were times when the plain language was not that plain and, quite frankly, was pretty technical in nature, and so we believe that a motion to this effect would be most effective in getting plain language material, call it more unified, for the benefit all of the committees and the public. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Committee Motion 251-18(3) Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment Report on the Process Used for Devolution Legislative Initiatives - Plain Language Materials, Carried August 21st, 2019

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this committee recommends that standards should be developed for the production of plain language materials to assist committees and the public in the review of bills, including appropriate reading levels, timelines for distribution, and what role the sponsoring department has in promoting proposed legislation. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Committee Motion 250-18(3): Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment Report on the Process Used for Devolution Legislative Initiatives - Complex Bills of Significant Public Interest, Carried August 21st, 2019

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this committee recommends that when the Government of the Northwest Territories is preparing complex bills of significant public interest, the government should coordinate with the appropriate standing committee on the introduction of such bills to allow the public and standing committees to adequately consider the implications of each bill.

Committee Motion 249-18(3): Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment Report on the Process Used for Devolution Legislative Initiatives - Technical Working Group Recommendations, Carried August 21st, 2019

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Again, this is where I spoke a little bit earlier about how sometimes certain parties didn't feel that they were allocated the appropriate time. This is about giving them the necessary time so that they can contribute, and as well as giving them the appropriate resources. Essentially, the motion speaks for itself. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Committee Motion 249-18(3): Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment Report on the Process Used for Devolution Legislative Initiatives - Technical Working Group Recommendations, Carried August 21st, 2019

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this committee recommends that when employing a technical working group, adequate time and resources are allocated for the technical working group to provide recommendations prior to the introduction of the legislation in the Legislative Assembly.

Committee Motion 248-18(3): Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment Report on the Process Used for Devolution Legislative Initiatives - Process and Criteria for Technical Working Groups, Carried August 21st, 2019

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Again, this is almost a little bit of a part two to the one that we've just passed. This is going to give technical working groups a little bit more certainty. We are of the understanding that technical working groups are being utilized more often. They are being utilized right now as we speak to help draft other bits of legislation that are going to be coming forward in the 19th Assembly. We've identified or believe that this is becoming a standard practice. That's a good thing. What this is going to do is it's going to let the IGOs and the co-drafters have, as I said, more certainty of when they're going to be called upon, and in that way, they can coordinate their internal resources and be able to contribute significantly when the co-drafting process takes place. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Committee Motion 248-18(3): Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment Report on the Process Used for Devolution Legislative Initiatives - Process and Criteria for Technical Working Groups, Carried August 21st, 2019

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this committee recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories develop a standard process and criteria for determining when a technical working group is to be employed, and the membership thereof. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Committee Motion 247-18(3): Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment Report on the Process Used for Devolution Legislative Initiatives - Protocols for Engagement in Development of Legislation, Carried August 21st, 2019

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I won't say much more than what has already been shared in terms of what we have heard out there. What this does is it encourages that protocols be set so that we have some degree of consistency in how we are going to approach the co-development and co-drafting of legislation.

As we travelled out on the road, we heard from a number of stakeholders, Indigenous governments, and others that there just didn't seem to be a very consistent approach. Sometimes, there was significant time to make input. There were other times where it seemed that Indigenous groups felt that they were pressured at that moment in time to make their contribution known.

There were concerns about not having enough resources on behalf of Indigenous governments to effectively contribute and that that would have required more time for them to get those resources so that they could effectively and meaningfully contribute.

Really, this is about developing some form of protocols so that when we do engage Indigenous governments with regard to co-drafting, that we have a process that everyone can expect and understand and, therefore, create some degree of certainty and reliability. Thank you, Mr. Chair.