Okay. We will defer the bill number and the title. We will proceed with clause by clause. Clause 1.
---Clauses 1 through 24 inclusive approved
Bill 18, An Act to Repeal the Settlements Act.
Agreed.
To the bill as a whole.
Agreed.
Does committee agree that Bill 18, An Act to Repeal the Settlements Act, is now ready for third reading?
---Bill 18 as a whole approved for third reading
Thank you committee. Bill 18 is now deemed ready for third reading. I would like to thank the Minister and his witnesses, but you can probably sit right there. Does committee agree that we move on to Bill 19?
Agreed.
I will ask the Minister responsible for the bill, the honourable Minister R.C. McLeod, the Minister of MACA, to introduce the bill. Some of the witnesses will need to be escorted out, so I will get the Sergeant-at-Arms to do that before we continue.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. We will get you to introduce your witnesses in a second once we have gone through the rest of the procedures. Can I get you to do your introductions on Bill 19?
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am here to present Bill 19, Municipal Statutes Amendment Act.
Bill 19 proposes amendments to three of the municipal statues, the Cities, Towns and Villages Act, the Hamlets Act and the Charter Communities Act. The proposed amendments result from issues raised over the past several years by municipal governments. Additional minor amendments of a miscellaneous nature are included as requested by the Department of Justice.
The other municipal statue, the Tlicho Community Government Act, is not addressed in this bill. The Tlicho Government must consent in a separate process to the proposed amendments before they can be made. The Department of Municipal and Community Affairs is consulting with the Tlicho Government on the issues in Bill 19 and on other matters the Tlicho Government wish to have addressed.
I look forward to hearing comments from the Members and answering any questions. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you, Minister McLeod. On that, we will go to the chairperson of the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Infrastructure, which reviewed the bill, to make their comments. Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Standing Committee on Economic Development and Infrastructure met on February 16, 2011, to review Bill 19, Municipal Statutes Amendment Act. Following a clause-by-clause review, a motion was carried to report Bill 19 to the Assembly as ready for Committee of the Whole.
This concludes the committee’s general comments on Bill 19. Individual Members may have additional questions or comments as we proceed. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Does committee agree that we allow the Minister to have his witnesses remain in Chamber?
Agreed.
Minister McLeod, can I please get you to introduce your witnesses for the record?
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have with me to my left Mr. Michael Aumond, deputy minister of MACA. To my right is David Kravitz, manager, community governance at MACA; and Lana Birch-Rideout, legislative counsel, Department of Justice. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister McLeod. I will now open the floor to general comments on Bill 19. Mr. Krutko.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As we all know, we basically established the legislation to empower the communities, but again, I think by bringing forward these statute amendments, I am wondering if there is any fiscal obligations that we may have or that there could be fiscal pressures put on the municipalities or local governments to administer these statutes by way of the amendments. If so, is this government going to be financially providing assistance to those communities that may have to take on more work in the light of the challenges they have?
I know a lot of the communities, especially in the rural, remote communities do have some challenges in regards to recruitment, retention, and more importantly, trying to just fulfill their legislative obligations regarding fiscally or through bylaws or municipal statues. So I’d just like to know has there been any discussions with the remote communities on the affect. I know you say you met with the municipalities, but I’d like to know if there are any restraints that may affect communities, but more importantly, are there any financial restraints that may cause the communities to have to do either more with less, or is the government willing to provide financial assistance if they have to take on a heavier workload. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Mr. Aumond.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Our view is that these amendments will not impose any incremental costs onto community governments or any incremental burden administratively. Most of these amendments are as a result of issues brought forward to MACA from community governments and we did work with the Northwest Territories Association of Communities in drafting up these amendments so we could address the issues raised by the communities. Thank you.
Mr. Chair, I’m talking about the smaller communities that are struggling. They basically have small populations, they’re receiving less revenues from the Government of the Northwest Territories because of the way the gas tax dollars have been allocated and we are seeing some challenges by way of human resource challenges by simply administering and offering those requirements that we put on them through this type of legislation.
I think at the end of the day we have to be cognizant that all communities are not the same. It might be great for large municipalities where you have a large workforce, but when communities don’t have a financial officer or an SAO or are just barely keeping their heads above water financially and also operationally, we have to realize that there may be times when we may have to provide financial assistance for them to take on more of a workload in light of minor amendments. They might be minor to a large municipality, but it probably could be major to a small rural community. So I just want the department and the Minister to be conscious of that whenever we put this type of legislation forward, that we realize there is going to be some financial requirements to live up to the obligations that we put forward on communities. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Minister McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. We’re always conscious of the possible effects this could have on communities and we go to great lengths to consult with the NWT Association of Communities and get their feedback on some of the proposed amendments. Thank you.
I’d just like to know, did you consult with any of the smaller communities such as Tsiigehtchic or Colville Lake or communities of that nature in regard to having small populations and requiring them to put in more responsibilities on them in regard to having to take on these types of amendments, because its miscellaneous for me. That basically means that somebody has to do the paperwork and follow the requirements that we put forward through these type of amendments. So have you consulted with small rural communities under, say, a population of 200?
The NWTAC was our conduit to the smaller communities and we consult with them and they, in turn, consulted with their member communities on some of the proposed amendments. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister McLeod. General comments on Bill 19. Is committee agreed that there are no further comments on Bill 19?
Agreed.
Can we proceed with the clause-by-clause review of Bill 19? Agreed?
Agreed.
Agreed. Okay we’ll defer the title and the bill number and before we go into the clause-by-clause we need to go to Schedule A. Starting on page 2. Any questions?
Agreed.
Okay, let’s turn to Schedule B, which starts on page 5. Any questions?
Agreed.
Okay, page 9, Schedule C. Any questions?
Agreed.
Agreed. So let’s turn back to the bill itself on page 1 and begin the clause by clause. Clause 1.
---Clauses 1 through 4 inclusive approved
Agreed. Bill 19, the Municipal Statutes Amendment Act.
Agreed.
Agreed. Bill as a whole?
Agreed.
Does committee agree that Bill 19, the Municipal Statutes Amendment Act is now ready for third reading?
---Bill 19 as a whole approved for third reading
Thank you, committee. Bill 19 is now deemed ready for third reading. Thank you, Minister McLeod. If I could get you to please thank your witnesses and, Sergeant-at-Arms, can I please get you to escort them out of the Chamber. Is committee agreed that we move on to Bill 20?
Agreed.
I’ll now ask the Minister responsible for the bill, the Honourable Jackson Lafferty, Minister responsible for Justice, to introduce the Bill.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am pleased to be here to speak to Bill 20, An Act to Amend the Evidence Act. I would like to thank the Standing Committee on Social Programs for its review of this bill.
The Evidence Act defines the prohibitions relating to the use of evidence in actions that are brought before a court under the laws of the Northwest Territories. The current act contains provisions that allow for the creation of committees that play a role in the health care system in the Northwest Territories. These committees have the authority to study, investigate or evaluate the hospital practice or hospital care provided by professionals in a hospital setting.
The current act contains prohibitions on how information arising from a committee proceeding can be used in the context of a legal proceeding. In particular, the act prohibits any individual, in the course of a legal proceeding, from answering any question relating to a committee proceeding. The act also prohibits the production of a document in the course of a legal proceeding if the document was produced by a committee that was established in accordance of the act. These prohibitions are sometime referred to as “protections” that are available to committees under the act.
The main purpose of the bill is to effectively expand the definition of “committee” under the act. The impact of this change will be twofold. First, it will mean that committees which are established to examine specific incidents involving the provision of health services will be afforded protection under the act. Second, committees which are established to examine the provision of health services across the territorial health care system will also receive protection under the act.
The reality of health care delivery in the North is that a patient will often be cared for in a number of ways within the territorial health system depending on their health needs, and this may involve more than one clinic or hospital within one or more authorities, or even during a medevac flight. It is important for patient safety that any incident can be comprehensively reviewed so that all health care professionals can learn from any recommendations that come out of the review. Protection under the Evidence Act is necessary to make quality assurance reviews effective as it will ensure complete and full disclosure from all health care providers involved.
The need to amend the Evidence Act was raised by the Department of Health and Social Services.
I would be pleased to answer any questions that the committee members may have regarding Bill 20. Mahsi.
Thank you, Minister Lafferty. With that, we’ll take a short break, five, 10 minutes tops.
---SHORT RECESS
I’ll call Committee of the Whole back to order. I’ll thank the Minister for his comments there before the short break. I’ll now go to Ms. Bisaro, a member of the Standing Committee on Social Programs, which reviewed the bill, to make comments. Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Standing Committee on Social Programs met on December 9, 2010, to review Bill 20, An Act to Amend the Evidence Act. Following the clause-by-clause review, a motion was carried to report Bill 20 to the Assembly as ready for Committee of the Whole.
This concludes the committee’s general comments on Bill 20. Individual committee members may have questions or comments as we proceed.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Mr. Lafferty, would you like to bring witnesses into the Chamber?
Yes, I do, Mr. Chairman.
