Question has been called.
---Carried
Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move that this committee recommends that the Department of Health and Social Services, health authorities, and the Department of Human Resources develop a service level agreement for recruitment and retention of health professionals that sets out roles, responsibilities, timelines and services to be delivered; and further, that this agreement be in place and functional by April 1, 2012.
The motion is in order. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called.
---Carried
Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move that this committee recommends that the Department of Health and Social Services and the health authorities develop a set of system-wide performance indicators and identify key data requirements, develop a program evaluation plan setting out areas they plan to evaluate, and regularly inform the Legislative Assembly and the public about the performance of the NWT health care system.
The motion is in order. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called.
---Carried
Seeing no further motions… Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move that this committee recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories provides a comprehensive response to this report within 90 days.
The motion is in order. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called.
---Carried
Seeing no further motions on this Committee Report 2-16(6), does committee agree that we’ve concluded our business on the Standing Committee on Government Operations Report on the Review of the Auditor General’s Report on NWT Health Programs and Services, 2011, Department of Health and Social Services?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. We’ll move on to Committee Report 3-16(6), read into the House on May 12th, Standing Committee on Government Operations Report on the Review of the 2009-2010 Human Rights Commission Annual Report. Start with general comments. We’ll move on to recommendations in the form of motions. Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move that this committee recommends that the Department of Justice review and assess the advisability of prohibiting discrimination based on unrelated criminal convictions or criminal records.
The motion is in order. To the motion. Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It’s my understanding that in 2005 the Human Rights Commission recommended the inclusion of unrelated criminal records as protected grounds for discrimination for employment. I also understand that it wasn’t supported at that time because there was a concern about increased litigation, that it could increase litigation substantially as the definition for “unrelated” was felt to be too broad and subjective.
I feel that was the wrong thing to do at the time. There are three other jurisdictions that offer such protection: Quebec, British Columbia and the Yukon. All three jurisdictions report very few, around 1 percent of all complaints, on these grounds were lodged. So there is no floodgate. There is no substantially increased litigation. There are plenty of court decisions, including decisions from courts of appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada, which provide ample guidance for discerning an objective definition. As a common-law jurisdiction it’s expected that courts build on previous decisions to breathe new meaning into the law. The cost of litigation would not increase substantially. This is evidenced by the very small proportion of complaints filed under this ground and other jurisdictions. The most costly area of human rights litigation is disability and accommodation issues, not unrelated criminal records.
There are two categories for the grounds of protection under our human rights legislation and they are immutable grounds, which are basically personal traits which cannot be changed or can be changed at any great personal cost. Things like race, religion, sex and sexual orientation. There are also non-immutable grounds: personal characteristics which are generally irrelevant to one’s ability to work or contract but may subject individuals to stigma or hostility. These are things like political opinion or affiliation, union membership, social condition, immigration status, source of income, and unrelated criminal records.
Things that I think we should be considering and the government should be considering when we’re talking about this motion, is that criminal record holders in the Northwest Territories are, unfortunately, overwhelmingly of Aboriginal decent. Discrimination on the basis of an unrelated criminal record could compound discrimination already faced by individuals in the Northwest Territories, especially marginalizing the individuals. This is a fundamental underpinning of human rights legislation, that qualified persons should not be refused employment on irrelevant traits.
We’re talking about unrelated criminal records here and I think this is an important motion for us to pass and I think it’s an important action that this government needs to take and amend human rights legislation accordingly so that we can protect our residents.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called.
---Carried
Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move that this committee recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories provides a comprehensive response to this report within 120 days.
The motion is in order. To the motion. Mrs. Groenewegen.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move that Committee Motion 18-16(6) be amended by deleting the number “120” and substituting the number “90.”
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The motion to amend is on the floor and in order. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called.
---Carried
The amended motion is in order. To the amended motion.
Question.
Question has been called.
---Carried
I believe once again that completes our business. Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move that we report progress.
The motion to report progress is on the floor and in order. It is not debatable.
---Defeated
Committee, may I just confirm that our business has concluded on Committee Report 3-16(6), Standing Committee on Government Operations Report on the Review of the 2009-2010 Human Rights Commission Annual Report.
Agreed.
Does committee agree that we’ll move on to Committee Report 4-16(6)?
Agreed.
In that case, we have before us Committee Report 4-16(6), Standing Committee on Government Operations Report on the Review of the NWT Languages Commissioner Annual Report 2009-2010. Open for general comments.
Detail.
Detail has been called. We’ll do that in the form of recommendations through motions. We have none. Any further comments on Committee Report 4-16(6)? Does committee agree that we’ve concluded our business in Committee of the Whole on Committee Report 4-16(6)?
Agreed.
Mahsi cho. Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I now move that we report progress.
---Carried
Can I have the report from the Committee of the Whole, please, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Your committee has been considering Bill 11, An Act to Amend the Public Service Act; Committee Report 1-16(6), Report on the Review of the Auditor General’s Report on the Deh Cho Bridge; Committee Report 2-16(6), Report on the Review of the Auditor General’s Report on Health and Social Services System; Committee Report 3-16(6), Report on the Review of the Human Rights Commission Annual Report; and Committee Report 4-16(6), Report on the Review of the Languages Commissioner’s Annual Report, and would like to report progress and that 15 motions were adopted, are concluded, and that Bill 11 is ready for third reading. I move that the report of Committee of the Whole be concurred with. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. A motion is on the floor. Do we have a seconder? The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Abernethy.
---Carried
