Yes, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last Thursday I commented on the history of victimization of women of aboriginal decent. Men have been victims of racial hatred, too. Today I wish to talk about the role that Canadian institutions have played in perpetuating that victimization process.

I had to laugh out loud, Mr. Speaker, when I heard about the Right Honourable Joe Clark's November 28th comments to the First Nations' leadership, when he tried to say that violence has not been part of the Canadian tradition. Mr. Speaker, violence against aboriginal people has been part of the Canadian experience right from the first moment Europeans set foot on this land. It was part of the Canadian tradition when the Beothuks were slaughtered in Newfoundland, and later when the government took up arms against native people during the Riel Rebellion, the Duck Lake confrontation, and most recently, Oka.

And these are just low points from Canada's own shameful past. If you consider the history of race relations throughout the Americas, you can find evidence of the mistreatment of native people from the time of Christopher Columbus right up to the tragedy at Wounded Knee. It continues today, with human rights abuses and land theft in many nations of Central and South America.

No, Mr. Speaker, Joe Clark was wrong. There has been a history of violent manipulation and victimization of Amerindian peoples throughout the years of our contact with non-native cultures. And we have tasted the bitter victimization in the North, too, Mr. Speaker. It was present in the corporal punishment endured by aboriginal children in the residential school system. It is present in our current system of justice. Many things must be wrong with any system that spends half a million dollars to conclude that it is all right for a judge to say that rape is different when it happens to northern women from when it happens to dainty southern Canadian co-eds.

I am heartened by a recent report of the Law Reform Commission of Canada which proposes a system of justice based on aboriginal traditions...

Mr. Speaker, just to mention to the Members that during our last territorial election -- I realize that students can vote by proxy when they are away from home, but a lot of students did not exercise that opportunity. In the event that this motion does pass, I would like to ask that provisions be made to the NWT Election Act so that we allow students, for example in Iqaluit or in Akaitcho Hall, to have booths so that they could vote for their respective constituencies. I would like to ask the Members to support my motion, and I request a recorded vote.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am bringing this motion forward after much discussion with young people in my constituency and in the Western Arctic. The intent of the motion is to give more young people a voice in the important political decisions that will be made over the next few years; decisions that will define the very nature of the Territories we live in.

I must stress to Members that lowering the voting age is not a radical suggestion. It would merely bring our legislation into line with most other jurisdictions in Canada that have already recognized the important contribution that young people can make in a political process.

Changes in legislation proposed in the motion will allow persons 18 years of age to vote in municipal and territorial elections and to run for office in these elections. It would also allow them the opportunity to cast their vote on the issue of division should a plebiscite ever occur.

We have heard often in this House about the important contributions that our youth can make. I have heard the Government Leader and many Members of the Executive Council tell this House how they consulted with young people on important issues. The current constitutional commission has recognized the contribution young people can make by going to high schools across the Territories to get their views on the constitutional development process in the Western Arctic. Young people have more to contribute than ever before.

As Mr. Lewis has stated in the House, young people have an understanding of the complexities of the modern world. They want satisfying jobs; some of them want to be businessmen; some of them want to build things; they are not happy with just getting a job; they want to make accomplishments; they want to make a contribution; they want another level of satisfaction that is far beyond what the elders were looking for many years ago.

Political Awareness Increases With Educational Level

The motion would go further than consultation. It would allow more young people to have a direct voice on these important issues by exercising their right to vote. Mr. Speaker, our youth are attending and graduating from high school at an ever increasing rate. As the Minister of Education has stated, our schools can hardly keep up with the demand. Increasing numbers of Dene, Metis and Inuit youth are graduating from high school and going on to post-secondary education programs at Arctic College, universities, college and trade schools. As the level of education increases for our youth, the level of political awareness increases proportionately. Young people are increasingly becoming involved in the political process through presentations to and meeting with constitutional commissions, participating in youth forums and serving on youth justice committees, and they are actively participating in aboriginal organizations.

I know that many of the people that have served in this House became politically active at a very young age. For example, Mr. Morin has told us that he was the president of the first Metis local at Pine Point at the age of 17.

The decisions we make over the next several years are decisions that will shape the lives of many of our youth. One way to ensure that more of our youth have a greater say in these decisions is by lowering the voting age to 18, as most other jurisdictions have done. I should note that I was concerned when I was considering this motion about the effect of changing the voting age on other age requirements in territorial legislation. I was particularly concerned with the effect it may have on the legal drinking age. The research I have done shows that amendments to the election legislation would not affect this requirement. In fact, in most other jurisdictions the voting age is lower than the drinking age, and that is how it would be here.

The fact is that the youth of our Territories are better educated, more politically aware and active and have a larger stake in the political decisions that shape our future than ever before. It is for these reasons that I am proposing this motion to give them a larger voice in the future.

Mr. Speaker, I would also like to mention that before the conclusion of the 11th Assembly, I did discuss the matter of changing the voting age at that time, before the election, but I did not think it would have been supported. The reason I would like to bring it up at this time is that there are people that are 15, 16 or 17 years of age that are listening to us probably right now with regard to this. They will be 18 years of age when the election comes in 1994, so perhaps if the Members care for their political years, they might consider supporting it. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to thank the Members too. Mr. Speaker:

WHEREAS the voting age requirement in the NWT is 19 years of age;

AND WHEREAS the government initiatives for the future will impact on all the young people of the NWT;

AND WHEREAS at 18 years of age you can vote in federal and most provincial elections, leave school without the permission of your parents, and are considered an adult in our justice system;

AND WHEREAS the right to vote is guaranteed in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms;

AND WHEREAS the population of the NWT is comprised of a larger number of young people;

AND WHEREAS the youth are well educated and should be in a position to exercise their democratic right;

NOW THEREFORE, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Thebacha, that the Legislative Assembly adopts that the voting age at an election in the NWT be changed from 19 to 18 years of age;

AND FURTHER, that the Legislative Assembly requests that the Executive Council introduce the necessary amendments to the Elections Act, Local Authorities Election Act and Plebiscite Act to give effect to any change in the voting age.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to get unanimous consent to go back to Item 14 to deal with Motion 31-12.

Mr. Speaker, my seconder is not in the House.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Most Members received a newspaper called the "Lawyer's Weekly," and in September there was a case in British Columbia where the adoptive parents were claiming compensation for a child who was in an accident. The adoptive parents were in their 90s, but the court in British Columbia made a ruling that because, under the Insurance Act, it identifies only the legally adoptive parents or the biological parents for benefits under the Insurance Act, this old couple were denied any kind of compensation.

I do have the copy of the case itself, but the case involves an application by the biological grandparents, who were also the custom adoptive parents, for compensation due to the death of their grandson by custom adoption. Under the regulations made pursuant to the Insurance Motor Vehicles Act, dependent parents could claim for compensation from the insurance corporation. The issue was whether the words "dependent parents" included those parents who were parents by custom adoption. The Supreme Court of British Columbia held that adoption by custom only provides moral rights or obligation. There are no legal rights or obligation. In other words, Mr. Speaker, under the present Insurance Act in BC, the custom adoptive parents could not claim compensation unless it was their natural child.

The elders themselves, under section 5 of the Charter of Rights, would have challenged that act on the basis that it was unconstitutional because custom adoption is like a customary practice and aboriginal right. However, Mr. Speaker, the elders have no money to challenge the act itself. The Insurance Act in BC is still a legal document, but in the NWT, where we do practise custom adoption, it is recognized. But in all the acts themselves there are a lot of places where it refers to parents and a child, and a "child" means a person who "in the absence of evidence to the contrary, appears to be under 18 years of age." Parents include a guardian except in part four. This is under the Child Welfare Act.

But in a lot of acts right now, the NWT Act, Education Act, Social Assistance Act, you have the definition of "parents" and you also have the definition of "child." But when those definitions are there, they do not necessarily refer to a custom adopted child. What I am asking the government to do is basically review all their statutory laws to ensure that where the definition of "parents" or "child" is written, then they include in there "custom adopted child" or "custom adoptive parents".

In the event that a ruling like this happened here in the NWT, I am sure it would be challenged. Basically that is the only reason I made the motion, just to ensure something like this does not happen, or in the event that there is an accident or a death of custom adoptive parents or child, that perhaps even the insurance companies do not use that excuse of denying the custom adoptive parents compensation, or the child compensation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

WHEREAS custom adoption has been a fact of life for aboriginal people in the Northwest Territories for hundreds of years;

AND WHEREAS the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms recognizes existing aboriginal rights;

AND WHEREAS case law in the Northwest Territories has recognized the validity of custom adoption;

AND WHEREAS the laws that govern the Northwest Territories should provide the same rights and protection afforded parents and children of legal adoption to parents and children adopted by custom;

NOW THEREFORE, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for High Arctic, that this Legislative Assembly requests the Minister of Justice to undertake a review of all territorial statutes to ensure that, where appropriate, the definition of "parents" and "children" will include custom adoptive parents and custom adopted children, so as to ensure that the parents and children of custom adoption will be afforded the same legal rights as currently exist between biological parents, parents by legal adoption and their children.

Thank you.