R.J. Simpson

Thank you. And the way this planning for capital works is that the department gathers up all of the different wants from the different school boards as well as information about the state of all the different capital assets from the Department of Infrastructure, and then we make assessments as to what can be done with a budget. And we sometimes have enough for a new school or a retrofit as well as a few a couple small capital projects. And the things the Member's referencing accessibility, ensuring older schools are accessible those are my priority for when I look at the smaller capital...

Yes.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following two documents: Aurora College Corporate Plan 20222023; and, Operating Plans for the Northwest Territories Education Bodies for the 20222023 School Year ending June 30th, 2023, Volumes 1 and 2. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. All that, and we still flooded. Mr. Speaker, what direction, if any, has the Minister provided to his department to start assessing how the department can work both internally and with Indigenous governments, with communities, and with residents, to develop policy and work plans to deal with flood and ice management for Hay River and the NWT? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that Bill 48 be amended by deleting clause 77 and the heading immediately preceding clause 77. Thank you

Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that Bill 48 be amended by adding the following after Clause 74: "Education Act, 74.1: Section 57 of the Education Act is amended by striking out “Arbitration Act” and substituting “Arbitration Act 1988 RSNWT 1988, c A5.” Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. This motion is part of a package of motions that will deal with the application of arbitration legislation to the Public Service Act and Education Act.

Upon review of the bill, the Union of Northern Workers advised the department that they were concerned with the application of the proposed new Act, notably, that Bill 48 is primarily geared towards commercial and other arbitrations, not labour arbitrations. The Department of Justice has developed these motions to address these concerns. The department is proposing to exclude the application of the new Arbitration Act to...

Thank you. with us today, we have Brad Patzer, assistant deputy minister Attorney General with the Department of Justice, and to his right Ian Rennie, acting director of legislation division with the Department of Justice. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I am here today to present Bill 48, Arbitration Act. The current Arbitration Act was enacted decades ago and has had few amendments since that time. The Arbitration Act establishes the default terms of an arbitration agreement made between two parties. Many powers that an arbitrator possesses in other jurisdictions are not currently available in the Northwest Territories meaning arbitration is currently a less attractive dispute resolution mechanism in this jurisdiction.

This bill is based substantially on the Uniform Arbitration Act, which was adopted in 2016 by the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, you know, we can sit here and say that, you know, we can't predict this and we can't predict that. But if we do nothing, then I know we won't be able to predict anything. But we have to make some educated decisions. We have to use, you know, Indigenous knowledge and, you know, if we're going to move ahead in trying to, you know, lessen the impact of the damages caused by flooding.

So, Mr. Speaker, has the Minister initiated any discussions with the Alberta government, or any Hay River Basin management organizations south of the border, to talk about what can...