Cory Vanthuyne

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Sahtu, that Committee Report 32-18(3): Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment Report on the Process Used for Devolution Legislative Initiatives be received by the Assembly and moved into Committee of the Whole for further consideration. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to waive rule 100(4) and to have Committee Report 31-18(3) moved into Committee of the Whole for consideration later today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Sahtu, that Committee Report 31-18(3) be deemed read and printed in Hansard in its entirety. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Hay River South, that Bill 56, An Act to Amend the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act, No. 2, be read for the third time; and, Mr. Speaker, I request a recorded vote. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. Earlier today I talked a little bit about the need for the City of Yellowknife to maybe consider developing a charter for the City of Yellowknife. This is where we start to recognize some of the unique and evolving needs of the City. I just want to ask the Minister if he or his staff in the department are starting to see and understand that the City of Yellowknife is starting to take on a lot more different responsibilities and pressures. Is there a need for maybe developing a charter for the City of...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I don't want to add too much to the previous speaker, except to say that this is going to be a bill that is going to do a lot of good work as it relates to streamlining the administration of lands, which I think we all want that goal and we have all strived to reach that. It has been a very big challenge since devolution to run off two different land acts and try to administer those acts, so I think the effort to unify them and bring them together under one act was the right move to do at the end of the day.

However, I just want to identify that this does not erase a...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to talk about the idea of a city charter for Yellowknife. Currently, the powers and authority of the City of Yellowknife are described by the Cities, Towns and Villages Act, but the CTV act applies the same rules to all communities. That means the City of Yellowknife, with 20,000 residents, has the same authority as other communities with only a few hundred, let's say.

Mr. Speaker, I think we can all agree Yellowknife has different circumstances that aren't shared by smaller communities. Its city government deals with unique issues, opportunities, and...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just for committee's information, what might have been in the people's package as the last one, I am moving that up to the next one. Mr. Chair, I move that this committee recommends that the Department of Lands make a commitment to amend the regulations flowing from the Public Land Act in meaningful consultation with interested Indigenous governments and organizations and the general public in accordance with the timeline set out in the Land Use and Sustainability Framework implementation plan. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this committee recommends that future amendments to the Public Land Act include more robust protections for Aboriginal and treaty rights consistent with and improving upon those found in other devolution-related statutes. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just some general comments. Bill 46 was referred to the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment on March 12, 2019.

The committee sent letters inviting input from an exhaustive list of stakeholders, including municipal and Indigenous governments in the Northwest Territories, as well as a number of non-governmental organizations and stakeholders.

The committee travelled throughout the territory holding public hearings in Fort Smith, K'atlodeeche First Nation, Hay River, Fort Simpson, Fort Providence, Yellowknife, and Inuvik. The committee thanks everyone...