Debates of May 29, 2018 (day 31)

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Hay River South, that Bill 13, An Act to Amend the Securities Act, be read for the second time. This bill amends the Securities Act to:

allow for automatic reciprocation in the Northwest Territories of orders of extra-territorial securities regulatory authorities designating an issuer to be or cease to be a reporting issuer;

allow for automatic reciprocation in the Northwest Territories of a variety of other prescribed orders issued by, or agreements entered into with, extra-territorial securities regulatory authorities without the necessity of drafting and issuing a further order in the Northwest Territories;

alter the requirements for disclosure documents to be provided to purchasers of exchange-traded funds to allow issuers to provide more accessible format to purchasers in lieu of a full prospectus;

temporarily suspend the limitation period for plaintiffs in secondary market civil liability actions where the application to the court for leave to file an action has been made; and

correct inconsistencies and errors identified in the statute.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. The motion is in order. To the principle of the bill.

Question.

Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried.

---Carried

Bill 13 has had its second reading and is now referred to standing committee. Second reading of bills. Minister of Justice.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Hay River South, that Bill 14, Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2018, be read for the second time. This bill corrects inconsistencies and errors in the statutes of the Northwest Territories. The bill also deals with other matters of a minor, non-controversial, and uncomplicated nature in the statutes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. The motion is in order. To the principle of the bill.

Question.

Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed?

---Carried

Bill 14 has had a second reading and is now referred to standing committee. Second reading of bills. Minister of Justice.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Hay River South, that Bill 15, Document Formalization, Service and Notice Reform Statute Law Amendment Act, be read for the second time. This bill amends 34 statutes of the Northwest Territories to improve access to justice for residents of the Northwest Territories by:

providing practical and straightforward options for the service of documents, including alternatives to the use of mail;

updating and simplifying the processes to give notice to individuals and the public at large;

eliminating unnecessary formalities, such as requiring documents to be supported by affidavits or otherwise witnessed; and

increasing effectiveness, reducing delay and inconvenience, and lowering costs for the government and the public.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. The motion is in order. To the principle of the bill.

Question.

Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed?

---Carried

Bill 15 has had a second reading and is now referred to standing committee. Second reading of bills. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, that Bill 16, An Act to Amend the Social Assistance Act, be read for the second time. The bill amends the Social Assistance Act to extend the term of appeal board members from two years to up to four years and to extend the list of public bodies with which information shared under the act may be shared to include Indigenous governments. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. The motion is in order. To the principle of the bill.

Question.

Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed?

---Carried

Bill 16 has had a second reading and is now referred to standing committee. Second reading of bills. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, that Bill 17, An Act to Amend the Student Financial Assistance Act, be read for the second time. The bill amends the Student Financial Assistance Act to extend the term of appeal board members from two years to up to four years and to amend the qualifications for the post-secondary student representative on the appeal board to include individuals who have been a post-secondary student within the five years preceding the appointment. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. The motion is in order. To the principle of the bill.

Question.

Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed?

---Carried

Bill 17 has had a second reading and is now referred to a standing committee. Second reading of bills. Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Range Lake, that Bill 18, An Act to Amend the Cities, Towns and Villages Act, be read for the second time. This bill amends the Cities, Towns and Villages Act to authorize councils:

to impose a tax on tourist accommodations; and

to pass bylaws allowing property owners to finance, through local improvement charges, local improvements that are substantively energy efficiency works or renewable energy works.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. The motion is in order. To the principle of the bill. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I stand in support of the principle of this bill. It has been a long time coming. Members have advocated for these necessary changes that are long overdue. They have been advocated by the Cities, Towns and Villages Act for some years now, and I am very pleased to see the government bring this forward.

It is essential that we give our cities, towns, and villages the tools that they need to effectively maintain their operations and to take advantage of economic opportunities like tourism. In my community of Yellowknife, the need for a hotel levy has been long canvassed, and it is supported by the city council. I like to think that we have a very good working relationship with our local government here in the city. I am very pleased to see the government bring these changes forward so that we can start to get to work on it as a standing committee.

As chair of the committee that will be reviewing the bill, I also look forward to engaging with stakeholders in our cities, towns, and villages to make sure that this bill meets their needs and that we do our due diligence as a committee to ensure it is the best legislation possible, and we will get to that within the coming weeks. Thank you.

Masi. To the principle of the bill.

Question.

Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed?

---Carried

Bill 18 has had its second reading and is now referred to a standing committee. Second reading of bills. Item 20, consideration in Committee of the Whole of bills and other matters: Bill 6, Cannabis Legalization and Regulations Implementation Act; Minister's Statement 1-18(3), North Slave Correctional Complex Inmate Concerns; Minister's Statement 19-18(3), Aurora College Foundational Review Process; Tabled Document 193-18(3), Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 2, 2018-2019; Tabled Document 194-18(3), Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 2, 2018- 2019; and Committee Report 7-18(3), Standing Committee on the Review of Bill 6: Cannabis Legalization and Regulation Implementation Act.

I now call Committee of the Whole to order. What is the wish of committee? Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, committee would like to consider Tabled Document 193-18(3), Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 2, 2018-2019; and Tabled Document 194-18(3), Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 2, 2018- 2019. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Does committee agree?

Agreed.

Thank you, committee. We will consider the tabled documents after a five-minute recess. Committee, please return to the Chamber at 5:15 p.m. on the dot. Thank you.

---SHORT RECESS

I have called Committee of the Whole back to order. Committee, we have agreed to consider Tabled Document 193-18(3), Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures) No. 2, 2018-2019. Does the Minister of Finance have any opening remarks? Minister McLeod.

Yes, I do. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I am here to present Tabled Document 193-18(3), Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 2, 2018-2019. This document provides for an increase of $159 million to the capital budget.

The major items in these supplementary estimates include:

$136 million to continue capital projects which were not able to be completed in 2017-2018. This amount is offset by an equivalent lapse of funding for 2017-2018.

$22.3 million to fund infrastructure investments associated with the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Plan Integrated Bilateral Agreement. These expenditures will be partially offset by funding from the federal government.

$703,000 to replace airfield runway lighting at the Fort Smith airport. These expenditures are fully funded by the federal government.

That concludes my opening remarks, Mr. Chair. I am prepared to respond to the committee's questions. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Sergeant-at-Arms, please escort the witnesses into the Chamber. Minister, you may join the witnesses at the witness table. Minister, would you please introduce your witnesses for the record.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, to my right I have Mr. David Stewart, who is deputy minister in the Department of Finance. To my left, I have Sandy Kalgutkar, who is the deputy secretary to the FMB. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister. I will open the floor up to general comments for the Infrastructure, Supplementary Estimates, keeping in mind that we will go through the document page by page. Do we have general comments on the tabled document? Ms. Green.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, this supplementary estimate represents a very large carry-over compared to previous years. This is money that could have been spent in our economy, but instead is being carried over. It seems to be the result of several factors; one is the large amount of money that's coming in to the territory from the federal government. Also, there seems to be a lack of capacity in the Department of Infrastructure to get contracts out the door. Also, miscellaneous issues with subcontractors. When the time comes for questions, I will ask the Minister to talk about the size of this carry-over, and how it can be reduced in years coming forward. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Green. If you have general questions for the Minister, you can ask those now, or you can wait until the appropriate sections. Would you like to continue, Ms. Green?

I will continue. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Could the Minister explain to us why the carry-over is so high this year? Let's start with that.

Thank you, Ms. Green. Minister.

Yes, Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, it was a fairly significant influx of federal money, and some large capital projects we had on our own. That is the reason for the carry-overs, and as we go through the details, I think you'll have a pretty good indication of where a lot of this money was supposed to have been spent. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Ms. Green.

Thank you. Given the fact that the federal money is going to be coming in for years to come, how is the Minister going to reduce the carry-over in years ahead? Thank you.