Kevin O'Reilly

That's four.

I want to thank the Minister for that. I appreciate that he is going to raise this at the next federal-provincial-territorial meeting on consumer affairs with his colleagues that he works with. I think that is a good step. In my statement today I spoke about cross-jurisdictional issues that can sometimes frustrate consumers, and those include things like air carriers, flight complaints, and those sort of things. Can the Minister explain how he works with his federal counterparts in terms of consumer rights and protection?

Merci, Monsieur le President. In responding to my Committee of the Whole questions, the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs agreed that there is a significant line-up of new legislation needed within his department. I think that there is some sort of transition process in place to prioritize that work. Can the Minister give us more details on how a recommended roadmap for new MACA legislation is being developed for transition to the next Assembly and how committees, or even the public, can influence that shopping list? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I was sort of afraid this was going to happen. I will speak to the process that resulted in the bill. I will also provide some comments on it and concerns with what is there and what is missing.

This is a much-needed bill to bring together two separate land management regimes that were created by the GNWT for small pockets around communities and by the federal government for the vast areas outside communities. The latter system was mirrored in GNWT legislation at devolution and most of the federal lands staff from former Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development...

Merci, Monsieur le President. I wish to table the following document, "Consumers Council of Canada Charter of Consumer Rights." Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Merci, Monsieur le President. While I'm on a roll, here, and I do appreciate the commitment of the Minister, one of the areas that NWT residents to participate increasingly in is online purchasing. Has our Consumer Protection Branch seen an upswing in complaints in this area, and has the branch developed any advice or guidelines for online shopping to ensure that NWT consumers have the tools to avoid scams? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

I want to thank the Minister for that. If it is not a secret, I think that consumer protection should be on that shopping list. I appreciate that we are not going to be able to start drafting new laws before the end of this Assembly, but some preparatory work can begin now. I gave the Minister a heads-up here. Is the Minister aware of the Charter of Consumer Rights that the Consumers Council of Canada have developed and how that work might guide the department's work on consumer protection in future legislative change?

Merci, Monsieur le President. The need for improved consumer rights and consumer protection remedies is a topic that all NWT residents have a stake in. I will raise a few points on this.

First is the lack of vigour and effectiveness of our consumer protection processes under our territorial Consumer Protection Act. The act lists areas of jurisdiction, but the real teeth that we're looking for, enforcement, is non-existent to weak at best. There is a process for complaints, investigations, and government intervention as an arbiter, but there is no final bite in the ability to issue binding...

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that information and his good work on the file. Lastly, I think I have done my part in trying to share some of the good news about a Northwest Territories midwifery program, but I think that a lot more could be done to promote this significant achievement, so can the Minister tell us what plans his department has to communicate and promote a Northwest Territories midwifery program? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

I want to thank the Minister for that and I am certainly interested in finding out more about how the services are going to be expanded to all our communities. I am not aware of any plans to monitor and evaluate the new Northwest Territories midwifery program and publicly report implementation and overall progress. Can the Minister describe how the NWT midwifery program will be monitored and evaluated, and how the results will be publicly reported?