Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am here to present Bill 28, Interpretation Act.
I would like to thank the Standing Committee on Social Development for their review of this bill and for the constructive feedback they provided. A motion was made in Committee, and I am pleased that the bill was improved as a result.
The current Interpretation Act finds its origins in the Revised Ordinances of the Northwest Territories of 1888, and although minor changes have been made to the act over time, it has not been significantly modernized from its original iteration. Bill 28 will repeal and replace the current act with a more accurate and accessible version. The new act will include most, but not all, of the components of the Uniform Law Conference of Canada’s model Uniform Interpretation Act, which was adopted at their 2015 annual meeting.
More specifically, the bill will make changes that:
Update existing standard provisions that regulate aspects of the operation of all enactments;
Update existing definitions of commonly used words and terms in legislation;
Revise existing provisions that identify which elements in a legislative document are to be considered as part of the statutes for purposes of interpretation;
Add a new provision that incorporates and clarifies the Carltona doctrine;
Remove outdated provisions;
Improve the structure of the act by reorganizing provisions; and
Improve the readability of the act.
These and other changes provided for in the bill will ensure that the Interpretation Act meets its purpose of promoting consistency and conciseness in the form and language of legislation in the Northwest Territories.
I would be happy to answer any questions that Members have regarding Bill 28.
Thank you, Minister. I will turn to the chair of the Standing Committee on Social Development, which considered the bill for any opening comments. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair the Standing Committee on Social Development concluded its review of Bill 28, Interpretation 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 one motion to amend the bill. Overall, the committee is pleased to support the Department of Justice's effort to update and enhance out-dated legislation.
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, would you like to bring witnesses into the Chamber?
Yes, I would, Mr. Chair.
Sergeant-at-Arms, please escort the witnesses into the Chamber. Minister, please introduce your witnesses to the House.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. To my left, Emily Ingarfield, manager of policy, and to my right, Mike Reddy, director of legislation. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Committee, please turn to page 5 of the bill. I'm sorry, I should open the floor to general comments. Do we have any general comments? I see Mr. Testart has comments. Mr. Testart.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I know this bill and many like it are very technical in nature and contain a lot of legal matters that are significant for how governments operate and how the legal community operates.
I think most average readers can understand what the Minister laid out for the changes, what this bill does, in his opening comments, except for one, which is the Carltona doctrine. I raised this in the review of the standing committee. I understand it now, but I'm hoping, for our listeners to these proceedings and for the future of our Hansard document, that the Minister can properly define that Carltona doctrine so everyone understands how the law is being changed to reflect that principle, which currently we only have in scare quotes. If the Minister can give just a description of that. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Testart. Minister Sebert.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I wonder if I might defer that question to Mr. Reddy, to my right. My recollection of exactly what this means has been lost in the mists of time. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Reddy.
Thank you. The Carltona doctrine, I'm not going to bore you with all the details, but it stems from a case 75 years ago. Basically, it stands for the proposition that, when a power is conferred on a Minister in legislation, that power or that act can be performed by delegates, by responsible delegates of the Minister.
How the act is, in fact, changing is, if you look at Section 19 of the bill, it actually explicitly states in those instances where a Minister can delegate the authority and who, in particular, it can be performed by. It can be performed by another Minister. It can be performed by the deputy minister or a person employed in the capacity of that department appropriate to the exercise and performance of that duty. Thank you.
Thank you for that clarification. Mr. Testart, anything further?
Crystal clear, Mr. Chair. Excellent job. Thank you. Nothing further.
Thank you, Mr. Testart. I see no further questions or comments. Committee, we can proceed to a clause-by-clause review of the bill starting on page 5. There are 52 clauses, so I propose that we proceed five clauses at a time. I'll call out clause one through five, et cetera. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
All right, committee. I note there's also one schedule at the end.
---Clauses 1 through 52 inclusive and Schedule 1 approved
Thank you, committee. To the bill as a whole. Does committee agree that Bill 28, reprint, Interpretation Act is now ready for third reading?
Agreed.
Bill 28 is now ready for third reading. Does committee agree that this concludes our consideration of Bill 28?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. Thank you again to the Minister. Thank you to your witnesses. Sergeant-at-Arms, you may escort the witnesses from the Chamber.
Committee, next we have agreed to consider Bill 29, Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2017. I will once again turn to the Minister responsible for the bill to introduce it. Minister Sebert.
Mr. Chair, I am here to present Bill 29, Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2017.
The purpose of Bill 29 is to amend various statutes of the Northwest Territories for which minor changes are proposed or errors or inconsistencies have been identified.
Each amendment included in the bill had to meet the following criteria:
It must not be controversial;
It must not involve the spending of public funds;
It must not prejudicially affect rights; and
It must not create a new offence or subject a new class of persons to an existing offence.
Departments responsible for the various statutes being amended have reviewed and approved the changes. The amendments proposed in Bill 29 are minor, uncontroversial, or non-substantive, and many consist of technical corrections to a statute. The amendments are of such a nature that the preparation and legislative consideration of individual bills to correct each statute would be time-consuming for the government and the Legislative Assembly. I would like to thank the Standing Committee on Social Development for its review of Bill 29 and would be happy to answer any questions Members may have regarding Bill 29.
Thank you, Minister. I will turn to the chair of the Standing Committee on Social Development, which considered the bill, for any opening comments. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the Standing Committee on Social Development concluded its review of Bill 29 on the Miscellaneous Statutes Law Amendment Act, 2017 on August 22nd, 2017, with a public hearing held here at the Legislative Assembly building. Housekeeping bills such as this ensure that territorial legislation is subject to regular review for consistency and liability. The committee is pleased to support the department's work. Individual Members may have additional comments or questions as we proceed with the consideration of this bill. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. I see that the Minister has witnesses. Sergeant-at-Arms, would you please escort the witnesses into the Chamber. Minister, please introduce your witness.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Laura Jeffrey, legislative counsel, to my left. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. I will open the floor to general comments on Bill 29. General comments? Seeing none, we can proceed to a clause-by-clause review. There are 16 clauses. I propose that we consider the bill five clauses at a time. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. Clauses 1 through 5.
---Clauses 1 through 16 inclusive approved
Thank you, committee. To the bill as a whole. Does committee agree that Bill 29, Miscellaneous Statutes Law Amendment Act, 2017 is now ready for third reading?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. Bill 29 is ready for third reading. Does committee agree that this concludes our consideration of Bill 29?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. Thank you, Minister. Thank you to the witness. Sergeant-at-Arms, you may escort the witness from the Chamber. Ms. Green.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, pursuant to section 77(1) of the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act, I wish to advise the House that I have a conflict of interest in Bill 30, Health Statutes Law Amendment Act. This bill amends the Public Health Act to clarify that the Commissioner may make regulations respecting cremation and crematoria. Mr. Chair, my spouse is a funeral planner and, as such, has a private interest in this bill. I will now excuse myself from the Chamber during consideration of this matter. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Green. Let the record show that Ms. Green has left the Chamber. I will turn to the Member responsible for the bill to introduce it, Mr. O'Reilly.
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.
