Louis Sebert

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Hay River South, that Bill 30, An Act to Amend the Human Rights Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Hay River South, that Bill 29, An Act to Amend the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, be read for the second time.

This bill amends the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act to:

provide for the application of the act to municipalities that are designated in regulations;

clarify the types of records that are exempted from disclosure because the records would reveal confidences of the Executive Council or the Financial Management Board and provide for a similar exemption for records of municipalities;

allow...

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. I really appreciate the amount of work that the Member proposing these amendments has put into this project, if I can call it that.

I have long been a supporter of a certain party, so I am partisan in that sense. I frankly could see a future where there would be parties in the Northwest Territories. My problem with this proposal is the manner in which it has come to us. It was only raised a couple of weeks ago. I appreciate that the Member opposite has been speaking about this issue and his position on it is well known, but why not have a private Member's bill and go...

Thank you for the question. I haven't looked at the forms myself, but certainly I will have staff or myself look at them. If they need to be modernized, perhaps we can provide some assistance in modernizing them. I realize many of the forms that are used in the judicial or semi- or quasi-judicial area are outdated and are in need of improvement. I am committing to look at those forms. Thank you.

Of course, there are a lot of other legislative initiatives facing us. We are reviewing this report and will be working on it and hope to bring forth something before the end of this Assembly, at least start that work.

Yes, I share Mr. Abernethy's concern because it doesn't differentiate between new candidates and incumbents. We know that incumbents often win, so this system would seem to me to lead to the incumbent spending the $30,000 since they're already ahead, so I don't think I can support this. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Hay River South, that Bill 29, An Act to Amend the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We went out for an RFP for a deputy rental officer. That contract is being finalized. Hopefully, that will speed up the process.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I did have an opportunity to read that portion of the report. Clearly, we need to speed up the process. We are looking seriously at that recommendation. I note that, in many provinces, in fact, six, there is no requirement for written reasons for a decision. That would certainly speed up the process. We are looking seriously at that. It does seem to be a sensible suggestion. Thank you.

Thank you. I think those of us who had the opportunity of visiting Guthrie House were impressed by what they are doing there. We are hopeful that the same sort of therapeutic model would also work here. I don't believe, and perhaps Mr. Goldney can help me with this, I am not aware of any smaller jurisdictions that have attempted this model, but there may be other places across Canada that have. Thank you.