Committee, we have agreed to begin our afternoon with consideration of Bill 24, An Act to Amend the Coroners Act. I will ask the Minister responsible for the bill to introduce it. Minister Sebert.
Yes. I am here to present Bill 24, An Act to Amend the Coroners Act.
I would like to thank the Standing Committee on Social Development for their review of this bill, and for the constructive feedback they have provided. A number of motions were made in committee, and I am pleased the bill has improved as a result. Bill 24 includes a number of proposed amendments to the Coroners Act to create greater efficiencies in the process to form a coroner’s inquest jury and the procedures for conducting a coroner’s inquest. To this end, the amendments would be:
Allow for the assembly of a jury panel, from which the jury may be selected;
Add provisions outlining the procedure for selecting jurors from the jury panel;
Allow persons to be excused from jury service in certain circumstances;
Allow the Chief Coroner to create rules of procedure for inquests; and
Improve the clarity and readability of certain provisions.
These proposed amendments came at the request of the Chief Coroner, and the bill has her support.
I would be happy to answer any questions that Members may have regarding Bill 24. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. I will now turn to the Chair of the Standing Committee on Social Development, the committee that considered the bill for opening comments. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the Standing Committee on Social Development concluded its review of Bill 24, An Act to Amend the Coroners Act, on August 22, 2017, with a public hearing held here at the Legislative Assembly building. The committee received no public submissions on the bill, and carried two motions to amend the bill. Enquiries can be extremely difficult for communities, including families and those fulfilling a civic duty by serving as a juror. Members are pleased that Bill 24 takes concrete steps to lessen that burden. Individual Members may have additional comments or questions as we proceed with consideration of this bill. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister, do you have any witnesses you would like to bring to the Chamber?
I do. May I proceed to the table?
Thank you, Minister. Sergeant-at-Arms, please escort the witnesses into the Chamber. Minister, would you please introduce your witnesses to the Chamber.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. To my left is Emily Ingarfield, the manager of policy, and to my right, Laura Jeffrey, legislative counsel. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. I will open the floor to general comments on the bill. Are there any general comments? I see none. Can we proceed to a clause-by-clause review of the bill? Committee, please turn to page 2 of the bill. We will defer bill number and title until after consideration of the clauses. Clause 1, does the committee agree?
---Clauses 1 through 7 inclusive approved
Thank you, committee. To the bill as a whole, does the committee agree that Bill 24, reprint, An Act to Amend the Coroners Act is now ready for third reading?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. Bill 24 is now ready for third reading. Does committee agree that this concludes our consideration of Bill 24?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. Thank you to the Minister and your witnesses. Sergeant-at-Arms, you may escort the witnesses from the Chamber.
Mr. Speaker, your committee has been considering Bill 24: An Act to Amend the Coroners Act; Bill 25: An Act to Amend the Residential Tenancies Act; Bill 28: Interpretation Act; Bill 29: Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2017; and Bill 30: Health Statutes Law Amendment Act (Cremation Services) and would like to report that Bills 24, 25, 28, 29 and 30 are ready for Third Reading. Mr. Speaker, I move I move that the report of the Committee of the Whole be concurred with. Thank you.
