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Statements in Debates

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

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Sorry, in my introductory remarks, I neglected to thank my fellow committee Members for the hard work that they did and the public for the submissions that we received.

To the motion, Mr. Chair, with the changes in Bill 56, we are going to transition the Conflict of Interest Commissioner to become an Integrity Commissioner, and the Integrity Commissioner can deal with complaints by any Member of the public with regard to any possible breaches of the Code of Conduct by future MLAs.

What this is going to do is provide a place where the reports, annual reports and so on, of the...

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

Thanks, Mr. Chair. The purpose of this motion is to add a couple more items to the list of subject matter for the annual report that the Minister is going to table in the Legislative Assembly. Right now, the Minister will report on investigations, prosecutions, actions, the disposition of any money, convictions for offences under this act, so it is a very short list of what is to be reported on. What has happened here is some improvements to the bill as I mentioned earlier. One of the big improvements, in my view, and I want to give the department credit for this is this idea of a statement of...

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

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Is the department then contemplating bringing any of these items back into the Environmental Rights Act in the future? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

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

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I will keep this very brief. We read the report into the House, I think it was yesterday. The Rules and Procedures Committee held public hearings in three different locations, Fort Smith, Yellowknife, and Inuvik, on some changes that are going to be forthcoming for discussion.

These are changes to the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act. Just quickly, these will:

modify the oath of office sworn by Members to include obligations;

clarify conflict of interest regime in respect of Members and former Members;

require adoption by the Legislative Assembly of a Code of...

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

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I accept the interpretation from the law clerk about how this would be applied. This would, in my view, not be applied to every decision. This is meant to be helpful guidance in determining those matters that would significantly affect the environment where the statement of environmental values would come into play. I don't think this takes away from anybody's decision-making authority. It is about trying to provide some assistance in how the statement of environmental values will actually work in practise. Using the criteria that the Minister has already accepted in another...

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

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Earlier, I mentioned that one of the improvements in the bill is going to be a state of the environment report that is required. There is state of the environment reporting already taking place, pursuant to the Mackenzie Valley Resources Management Act, part 6, and I guess committee felt that it was important to coordinate these sort of state of the environment reporting efforts no matter what piece of legislation they may be carried out under. Under the proposed forest act, there was supposed to be a state of the forest report, as well. ENR does a good job at pulling these...

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

Merci, Monsieur le President. I would like to ask some questions about the Food Establishment Safety Regulations that I found out about today through the Minister's statement. I was contacted while we were in the House here by someone who prepares food for sale at the Yellowknife Farmer's Market. Can the Minister tell us what sort of public engagement took place around the development of the Food Establishment Safety Regulations? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Sorry for this. Would there be a requirement for every GNWT decision, action, to consider all of these criteria? Sorry. Would these criteria require their consideration the way this has been drafted in every single decision, action, taken by GNWT? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

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

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I mentioned earlier how the department, in carrying out the public consultations that went into the development of the bill, had said that they were contemplating the development of an environmental registry.

Ontario has such as registry already in place, and has had it in place for more than a decade. This is one place on the Ontario government website where any individual can go and find important decisions that are made with regard to the environment; proposals for policies, programs, new regulations, draft regulations; and there is an opportunity for the public to comment...

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

I want to thank the Premier for that information. There seems to be some confusion about what's covered and what's not, but I understand from what the Premier said that there is a review that may have started, failed efforts in the past to review the extended health benefits programs, including the specified disease condition list. I would like to ask the Premier: what's the holdup, and when will this review really commence?