Kieron Testart

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier today the honourable Member from Nahendeh talked about the fine work the Standing Committee on Social Development has done on the foundational review, and it makes me reconsider some of the Education Minister's comments from last week.

I wonder if he can answer this for me: what does he think the role of the standing committee is? From his statement, he seems to not address the fact that they are working on his timelines to provide the required advice. Further, he has gone on record saying that there was little agreement on what to do with the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just to be clear, I am well aware of the mandate of the department, and I think the capacity-building piece is there, but this information piece is very important, and it might not be contemplated by the current work.

My final question is: if we do a communication project like that, will the department be working with EC to ensure we have all 11 official languages covered and the information is accessible to communities through their local governments in local languages? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I would like to thank the Minister for that response. It is good that we are aware of the issue. Have there been any timelines attached to this capacity-building exercise, or do those have to come after the ATIP legislation is rolled out?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would also like to recognize Mr. David Ramsay, the former Member for Kam Lake. He has left big shoes to fill, and that is a good thing. Thank you.

You know I like timelines, but that is fine. We will let the department do its work. There is a significant public education piece here that the Information and Privacy Commissioner does take on their own initiative. However, given that this is a significant shift, and not just in legislation, but in culture as well, is the department going to work with municipalities on a public information campaign so everyone can access their requirements? If yes, well, we will leave it at that. I have another question, though.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the issue with the municipalities providing access to information to their residents has been a long-standing recommendation of the ATIP commissioner here in the Northwest Territories. I know that new legislation is being considered, but what I would like to ask today of the honourable Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs is: does the department have a plan to assist communities in meeting new ATIP requirements should they be implemented? Have they explored this, or will they need time to catch up should those changes be made? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, it is pretty obvious by now that I am committed to advocating for more open and transparent government. With Right to Know Week being celebrated the week of September 25th to October 1st, and with international Right to Know Day being held on the 28th of September, I think it is appropriate to remind the government of its mandate commitment to increase transparency and accountability.

Mr. Speaker, international Right to Know Day originated in Sofia, Bulgaria, in 2002 with 15 original countries signing on. Since then, the popularity and scope of Right to Know Day has grown immensely...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate again where my honourable friend is coming from on this one, to create a service as an interim measure, so I guess I cannot ask this question directly. I will just include it in the debate.

It would be lovely if a member of the government's side could offer some clarity on their position on this issue and whether or not they have contemplated the regulatory issue that I have raised earlier today. Apart from that, I have nothing further for the honourable Member, and I am pleased to support his bill. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate how this bill was designed and the problem it is trying to solve. I think it is important that we offer low-cost funeral services for Northerners, but there are some technical questions I would like to ask the honourable Member who is sponsoring this bill.

In the current version of the Public Health Act, it would appear that there is authority to regulate funeral services and the disposal of human bodies. Now, this bill corrects that by being explicit and brings more clarity to the act of cremations, but what is missing from this bill seems to be that it...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I know this bill and many like it are very technical in nature and contain a lot of legal matters that are significant for how governments operate and how the legal community operates.

I think most average readers can understand what the Minister laid out for the changes, what this bill does, in his opening comments, except for one, which is the Carltona doctrine. I raised this in the review of the standing committee. I understand it now, but I'm hoping, for our listeners to these proceedings and for the future of our Hansard document, that the Minister can properly define...