Kevin O'Reilly

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Does the Minister of staff know how long it's going to take then to have the ability to do that for the official name portion of the birth certificate? Presumably it's going to happen at the same time that we fix this up for the names that can go on the birth certificate. I was just wondering when this is going to take place, when we can make this shift. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Merci, Monsieur le President. Mr. Speaker, I'll share a few observations today on the costs to small businesses of ensuring safe workplaces. First a bit of good news. Members may be aware of COR, or the Certificate of Recognition of safety through the NWT Construction Association. It's the occupational health and safety accreditation program that verifies a fully implemented safety and health program meeting national standards, and it's also independently audited. Even though it's voluntary, many NWT businesses have embraced COR certification and risen to meeting those standards.

Following up...

Mr. Chair, yes, look, I'm not asking the Minister to change official names of communities. What I'm wondering is if someone wants to get a birth certificate now, and they were born in Lutselk'e, and I'm not even going to say the name quite correctly, how does that appear on the birth certificate as their place of birth? Is it exclusively in Roman orthography right now or does it use the appropriate Denesuline fonts? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I apologize. I wasn't at the hearing, and I'm probably springing this on the Minister and staff, but I'll give an example if that's okay. It's my understanding that the official name does not just exclusively use Roman Orthography, so in our documents that we issue as a government people will be able to have that appear as their place of birth perhaps and those will be accepted then by the federal government into the international system. Is that what I'm hearing? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Yes, that helps clarify this for me why we're moving money forward for the project. I appreciate that response. Thank you.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I noted in the Minister's opening remarks that the Stanton Territorial Hospital Renewal Project is on budget. Can you confirm for me that the schedule's still in place, on time, and so on? I know I asked this yesterday of the Minister of Health, but I think he was bringing forward a budget for long-term care related to Stanton, and this time I just want to know if the renewal project itself is still on time? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Sorry, Mr. Chair, I didn't have my earphone in, so I couldn't actually hear the response. If the Minister wouldn't mind telling me again? I've got my earphone on this time. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I think the Minister's misrepresenting what I was saying. I'm not talking about making COR certification a requirement for WSCC programs and so on. What I'm saying is that those small businesses that have actually entered into it voluntarily don't seem to get any recognition through WSCC in terms of having voluntarily adopted this and the extra costs that it brings on.

So once again, can the Minister commit to look at the Safe Advantage program and find ways to allow for those small businesses that have voluntarily entered into COR, that they receive some sort of financial...

I appreciate the response from the Minister, but what seems to be driving the bus here is reducing premiums rather than safety. So I'll again ask the Minister whether a firm is large or small, these safety programs have a cost. When small firms have to take on these programs, that's probably proportionately a greater cost. So does the Minister not agree that small employers face proportionately equal or even greater costs for safety programs and will he consider eliminating the premium threshold for refund eligibility under the Safe Advantage program?

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I appreciate the response from the Minister. So just in case anybody comes away with the wrong impression, I strongly support these changes to the Vital Statistics Act, and I appreciate the efforts of the Minister and his staff to do this. I just want to make sure that we're going to be able to do it in terms of the official names as well. I'm a very strong advocate for Aboriginal languages, all official languages, and I do appreciate the work of the department and look forward to having this sorted out soon. Thanks.