Frame Lake

Statements in Debates

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 85)

Merci, Monsieur le President. Members of this House have likely encountered the issue of NWT Health Plan coverage under the specified disease conditions list under the Extended Health Benefits Program.

Recently I brought forward another instance of lack of care supports because a constituent has a condition that is not covered. Recently the NWT Autism Society released a thorough legal review of how autism is not covered under the list of specified disease conditions and how this may be viewed as discrimination. When I raised this review with the Minister of Health and Social Services, the...

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 85)

Thanks, Mr. Chair. That is interesting, because there is now some significance criteria actually incorporated into the bill as a result of an amendment that the Minister accepted during clause-by-clause review. Clause 9 has now been amended, providing some criteria for the Minister to consider when determining whether something is likely to cause significant harm to the environment. They include, as now provided for in the bill, magnitude of the effect; geographical area of the affect; duration of the effect; degree of reversibility of the effect; nature of the effect; likelihood that the...

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 85)

Thanks, Mr. Chair. During committee's consideration of Bill 56, we heard comments raising concerns around "Why doesn't the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act apply to MLAs?" As I understand it, that is not generally the case in other jurisdictions.

There is provision in the code of conduct, the draft as it exists and will be tabled in the House shortly, to ensure that MLAs treat the information they get from their constituents and about their constituents in an appropriate manner. That is how we deal with privacy considerations here and will deal with them in the future.

This...

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 85)

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I have some questions that I would like to ask the Minister on clause 18.

This is the part of the bill where a statement of environmental values would be created by the Executive Council. Section 18, though, provides that a Minister of a department or an agency shall take every reasonable step to ensure that a statement of environmental values prepared or amended under section 17 is considered whenever decisions that might significantly affect the environment are made by the department or body. Can someone explain to me how that determination of significantly affect the...

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 85)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this committee recommends that upon adoption of the new code of conduct and the coming into force of Bill 56, that a news release be distributed and plain-language materials be posted to the Legislative Assembly website explaining the changes. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 85)

Thanks, Mr. Chair. In my remarks earlier I mentioned that this bill has been in place for 29 years. It is not very well-used. What has happened in those 29 years is that the concept of environmental rights has evolved. I mentioned how 149 of 193 countries in the world now have constitutional recognition of environmental rights in one form or another. Unfortunately, Canada is not one of those countries.

I also talked about how expectations were raised by the department during the public consultations of the bill around matters like definitions of a right to healthy environment, public trust, and...

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 85)

Thanks, Mr. Chair. That information the department is looking to put on its website perhaps to better promote this, will that include maybe a plain-language version of how a request for environmental investigations can be made and other provisions in the bill? Is that the sort of thing that would get promoted in plain language? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 85)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this committee recommends that the 19th Assembly have a public ceremony where each member agrees to and signs the code of conduct. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 85)

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I would request a recorded vote. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 85)

Great. Thanks, Mr. Chair. I am really pleased to hear that, that the idea of an environmental registry may still be alive. I mentioned that the current act started off as a private Member's bill back in 1990 or 1991. It has been around for 29 years. Requests have only happened four times under it and an investigation only once. When could we expect that the next review of this bill will take place? Thanks, Mr. Chair.