Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Committee wishes to consider Committee Report 26-18(3), Standing Committee on Government Operations Report on the Review of Bill 42, An Act to Amend the Petroleum Products Tax Act, and Bill 43, An Act to Amend the Income Tax Act; Bill 42, An Act to Amend the Petroleum Products Tax Act; and Bill 43, An Act to Amend the Income Tax Act. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker.

Public Engagement

The committee held public meetings in Fort Smith, Yellowknife, and Inuvik. At each public meeting, a presentation was made by committee staff outlining the proposed changes to Bill 56, and the contents of the Code of Conduct. Committee also publicly released a briefing note on Bill 56 and the Code of Conduct to make it easier for members of the public to review the material.

A number of individuals and organizations made submissions to the committee, either in person or via written submissions. Written submissions are attached as Appendix A.

Committee received comments from the following:

• Alternatives North,
• Arlene Hache,
• Graham White, Professor Emeritus, University of Toronto,
• Gwich'in Tribal Council,
• Keith Sulzer,
• Mark Bogan,
• OpenNWT, and
• Status of Women Council for the Northwest Territories.

The committee heard general support from presenters, and received several recommendations for improvement. The committee thanks every individual and organization who attended these meetings to share their views on Bill 56 and the Code of Conduct.

A clause-by-clause review of Bill 56 was held on Wednesday August 14, 2019. At the clause-by-clause review, 17 motions were passed, making amendments to the Bill as described in the next section. A copy of all of committee's motions is attached as Appendix B.

What We Heard on Bill 56

Transition Periods

There were concerns that the transition period or "cooling-off" period for former Members was too short, and it was recommended the transition period for Regular Members be increased to one year for one term in office, and two years for Members who served as a Minister or Speaker in the 12 months prior to them ceasing to be a Member.

Committee considered these submissions carefully but chose not to recommend these changes. During the transition period, a Member who served as Speaker, Premier, or Minister in the 12 months before the dissolution of the Assembly or who served three or more terms as a Regular Member, cannot accept or hold a contract, employment, or an appointment from the GNWT or an organization in which they had significant official dealings with in the 12 months prior to them ceasing to be a Member.

Currently, the transition period for Regular Members is four months for each term in office, to a maximum of 12 months. Committee was concerned a longer transition period, particularly for Regular Members, would act as a barrier to people standing for election as MLA. It was noted that Regular Members do not play a direct decision-making role in day-to-day government functions, and, as such, a longer transition period was not necessary. Committee amended Bill 56 to make the transition period for Regular Members four months, regardless of the number of terms served, to remove a potential barrier to choosing to run for MLA, ensuring people do not face barriers to future employment in a public role.

Integrity Commissioner

Bill 56 changes the title of the Conflict of Interest Commissioner ("the Commissioner") to the Integrity Commissioner. The committee did hear some questions on the need for this name change. Committee noted that this recommendation came from the Commissioner and is consistent with the title used in Ontario and Nunavut. The committee concurred with the Commissioner's suggestion.

Mr. Speaker, I would now like to turn the reading over to the honourable Member for Thebacha. Thank you.

Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to recognize two interpreters from my riding, Maro Sundberg, who is interpreting in Wiiliideh Dogrib language, and Tom Unka, who is an interpreter in the Chipewyan language or Denesuline language from Fort Resolution. Thank you.

Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Today I rise to speak about the passing of yet another long-time Yellowknives Dene elder, Isadore Tsetta. Isadore was predeceased by his parents Antoine and Monique Tsetta; his wife Elise; his siblings Benny and Rosanna; and his goddaughter Adeline. Isadore is survived by his children, Fred, Ted, Charles, Peter, and Isadore and Elise also raised Peter Charlo. His grandchildren are Valerie, Aleisha, Trisha, Tyler, Corbin, Laken, Kylie, Tamra, Billie and Karsen. His great grandchildren are Courtney, Noah, Nolan, Chaylee, Tyshanyah, Tadeh and Alexis. His godchildren are Alice, Priscilla, Shirley, Kathleen and Eileen, along with his extended family, the Blackducks, Liskes, and Sonfreres.

Mr. Speaker, Isadore Tsetta was born on October 24, 1925, and passed away on March 17, 2019, at age 93. Isadore was a well-respected leader and an influential elder within the Yellowknives Dene First Nation. His notoriety in the community began in the 1970s when he operated a Dene store at Detah. During that time, he was also a full-time trapper, and after that, he became chief of Detah from 1979 to 1987. Another project that Isadore was a part of was the Dene Mapping Project through the 70s and 80s. Where the Dene Nation collected data on land occupation to help create land management plans. In his later years, he was also a member of the Elders' Senate for the Yellowknives Dene.

Mr. Speaker, his son and the former chief of N'dilo, Ted Tsetta, described Isadore as a principled man who never backed down and who stood his ground for things that he believed in, especially when it came to anything related to the treaty, which was something he was a steadfast defender of throughout his entire life.

Mr. Tsetta was also somebody who I knew on a personal basis. He was a very well-respected man right across the territory. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The reason that I asked the last question is because public housing takes people out of core need. I suppose that is what public housing is all about. Individuals that can't afford adequate and suitable housing end up in public housing. We have 2,400 public housing units, I understand, across the territory. I just wanted to get an answer for the House from the Minister to see if the Housing Corporation considers the 2,400 families that are in public housing in core need currently. Thank you.

I would like to ask the Minister if the Minister feels that people who currently reside in public housing are in core need.

Often, individuals who have perfectly good housing units, suitable and adequate units, because they have an affordability issue identify as being in core need for housing, so I would like to ask the Minister if he could give the House a definition of "core need."

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On Monday I made a Member's statement on the Housing Corporation, the core need housing programs, and so on. I have questions more specifically towards the core need of the social housing in the Northwest Territories. I would like to ask the Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation when the new needs survey for determining the core need numbers across the NWT will be released. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to speak about an unfortunate recent passing of two residents of Ndilo, Muriel Betsina and JR Abel, both of whom were related as grandmother and grandson.

To begin, I would first like to talk about Muriel. Muriel has been a long-time resident of Ndilo, but she was born in Tulita on May 25, 1944, and passed away on July 22, 2019, at age 76. Muriel is survived by her seven children; Ernest, Eileen, Norman, Dianne, Allan, George, and Frank Jr.; her 40 biological and adopted grandchildren; and more than 10 great-grandchildren, as well as her siblings Be'sha, Alice, and Joe Blondin. She is also a sibling to the late George Blondin.

Mr. Speaker, Muriel was an outspoken advocate for most of her life. She often talked about her experience as a survivor of residential school and about the importance of preserving a positive cultural legacy for the Dene of the NWT. She was also known for her strong beliefs in forgiveness and for sharing a strong sense of love and acceptance with all people with whom she interacted. She will surely be missed by the people of Ndilo and many people across the Northwest Territories.

Now, Mr. Speaker, I'm going to talk about the life of JR Abel. JR was born in Yellowknife on January 2, 1990, and passed away on August 9, 2019, at the age of 29. JR is survived by his parents, Eileen Betsina and Edward Abel; his siblings, Martina, Eric, Christopher, and Shalbe; along with countless cousins, aunts, uncles, great aunts and uncles, and six nieces and nephews.

Mr. Speaker, JR grew up in the community of Ndilo, where he was surrounded by much of his family most of his life. JR was known to have a generous heart and never hesitated to offer his help to any of his family or friends, especially when it came to his nieces and nephews.

JR also loved to be out on the land and was considered a star pupil for the GNWT environmental monitoring program. Over the years, he also worked as a wildfire fighter during the summers and, in the wintertime, ice road flooder. It is truly unfortunate that JR passed away at such a young age. His memory, however, will live forever in the hearts and minds of those he touched. This goes the same for his grandmother, Muriel. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.