Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the spirit of consensus government, Cabinet has taken the approach that we are not going to stand in the way of bills presented by Members at second reading. We're not endorsing the bill but we're not standing in the way of it either. So for those reasons, we will be abstaining from this vote. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, three years ago I was mandated to initiate a review of our government's Student Financial Assistance Program with the goal of improving access to postsecondary education for all Northwest Territories residents by reducing barriers and ensuring benefit levels are meeting the needs of students. I am happy to say that we have completed our review and are now taking steps towards implementing necessary, significant changes to the program to better meet the needs of students.

The review examined the Student Financial Assistance Program's alignment with the Truth and Reconciliation...

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, that Bill 79, An Act to Amend the Judicature Act, be read for the third time. And, Mr. Speaker, I request a recorded vote. Thank you.

Yes, I would.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following four documents: Government of the Northwest Territories Response to Committee Report 4319(2): Report on the Review of Bill 63, An Act to Amend the Official Languages Act; Government of the Northwest Territories Response to Committee Report 4819(2): Report on the Review of Bill 68, An Act to Amend the Child Day Care Act; Government of the Northwest Territories Response to Committee Report 4919(2): Report on the 20212022 Review of the Official Languages Act; and, the Government of the Northwest Territories Response to Motion 7519(2), Maximum Allowable...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That's a long list of things to include. So I can say yes, I will commit to annual reporting and I will commit to seeing how many of those items that we can actually get on the list. But I think it's a great idea, and I'm happy to action the Member's request. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So we haven't even rolled out the first set of significant changes yet, and the Member's already asking for another set. So I can't commit to doing that. What I will say, as the Member has noted, you know, the SFA program was undersubscribed and so we looked at what new money we can find, what money is available internally, and what we could do with those funds. And so what we did is create a program that we could afford in that envelope. I do recognize what the Member is saying. There are still barriers that exist for some people to, you know, advance their education...

Mr. Speaker, with funding from the federal government, the Department of Justice is enhancing access to free legal advice and legal representation for survivors of sexual assault and intimate partner violence through the establishment of the Independent Legal Advice and Representation Program.

In 2019, the Government of the Northwest Territories commissioned the Aurora Research Institute to conduct an evidencebased study to use as a guide to better support survivors of intimate partner, genderbased violence, and sexual assault in the NWT. Concurrently, researchers contracted by the YWCA NWT...

With me today, I have Ian Rennie, legislative counsel with the Department of Justice; and, Paul McKenna, legal counsel with the Department of Justice. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I am here today to present Bill 79, An Act to Amend the Judicature Act.

The purpose of Bill 79 is to bring the Northwest Territories into compliance with the Canadian Free Trade Agreement; and, to make unrelated improvements to the functioning of the Court of Appeal.

The Canadian Free Trade Agreement is an intergovernmental agreement between the Canadian provinces and territories which has replaced the former Agreement on Internal Trade. The Government of the Northwest Territories signed the new agreement in April 2017 and is now obligated to make changes to our...