Charles Dent

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Wednesday, October 20, 2004, I will move that Bill 15, Tlicho Community Services Agency Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, because the regulations were in place the way they were, I don’t believe that it could be forgiven or forgotten or ignored. The rules will have to be applied as they were at the time that the issue or the problem happened. It may interest the Member to know that I have given direction and we are changing some of the rules to make it easier for students to qualify for full-time performance during the year, because we will agree now that a full-time course load is equivalent to 60 percent as opposed to 75 percent. That will be starting for first-year...

Yes, please, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, to the best of my knowledge, the answer to the question is no. The expectation is, as I said, that students are made to understand very clearly. It's very, very clearly set out on the application form that any change may require them to pay back. So if they're not paying attention to that, yes, they could be in trouble. We're finding that for the most part students are having no trouble staying in compliance. In fact, since 2001, there haven't been that many appeals from people who feel that they have been treated incorrectly by the SFA program....

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The repeal of this act will not have any impact, but now under the new Cities, Towns and Villages Act, all municipalities have the same powers to pass bylaws with regard to utilities.

Mr. Chairman, the new Cities, Towns and Villages Act gives specific authorities to the Town of Norman Wells that would mean that they don’t need to have in place the Norman Wells Natural Gas Distribution System Act any longer. So they can pass this kind of bylaw under the CTV act.

Mr. Chairman, perhaps I could get Mr. Menicoche to restate the question and confirm that we are on clause 6.

Yes, Mr. Chairman, please.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. From the Department of Justice, I have Mr. Mark Aitken with me.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, Bill 7 amends the Legal Profession Act to enable law firms to deal with trust monies that lie unclaimed in lawyers’ trust accounts. This bill was developed at the request of, and in close consultation with, the Law Society of the Northwest Territories.

The legal professional is subject to very stringent accounting rules and obligations relating to trust funds. Literally every penny must be accounted for. Occasionally money is left unclaimed in a trust account, having been forgotten by a client or left unclaimed for other reasons. Examples include...