Merci, Monsieur le President. There were media reports of a meeting between the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources and Nunavut officials in Kugluktuk in April of this year. Can the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources provide some background information on the meeting, such as who was there, and table a copy of the agenda so that we can see what was discussed? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Environment and Natural Resources.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. During my tour of the Tlicho and speaking to the leadership there, and the Member was part of that tour, I did commit to them that I was going to try to line up a meeting with my counterpart over in Nunavut, and we are fortunate that we were able to see that happen. We did meet in Kugluktuk, as the Member pointed out. There were about six representatives from each side. There was myself and the Minister in Nunavut, who is also the Premier; and we had our two deputy ministers, as well as some technical staff. About 12 people attended the meeting altogether.
What I could do, and I think the Member asked about the agenda, is that I will have a look here. I should be able to table the agenda so that we will have an opportunity to see what was discussed there. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I want to thank the Minister for that commitment, and I look forward to getting the information. There are no temporary or permanent protection measures in place for key habitats of any of the transboundary barren-ground caribou herds shared by the NWT and Nunavut. Can the Minister tell us what the outcomes were at this meeting, whether there is going to be any protection of caribou calving grounds?
I thought it was a very positive and productive meeting that we had, and we did come up with an agreement to enhance our caribou research monitoring and management actions. Again, there was recognition of the leadership shown by the Tlicho government on the issue.
This was a fairly high-level political leaders' meeting, along with our technical staff. We had some good discussions on the calving ground, our concern that the calving grounds are in Nunavut, and maybe they didn't have the same regulations or restrictions that we had. They understood that, and they have committed to have a discussion amongst their co-management partners, as well. I did offer to host a meeting here in the capital in the fall. I would like to host that, and they seemed receptive to that. At that time, I want to use that as an opportunity to bring our Aboriginal partners in as well and have a thorough discussion.
I was very encouraged by the outcomes of the meeting. I thought it was a very positive tone and a very sincere recognition that we need to try and do what we can to protect the Bathurst caribou herd.
If everything works out right, maybe I will be at that meeting in the fall.
Cabinet continues to push ahead with planning and spending on an all-weather road into the heart of the range of the Bathurst caribou herd, while there are plans for a similar joint road on the Nunavut side that would pass through the calving grounds of this herd. Can the Minister tell us whether there was any discussion of the road proposals and their obvious detrimental impacts on the Bathurst caribou herd and what the outcomes of those discussions were?
We did have a lot of discussion, but as far as the road corridors go, we didn't really get into any type of detail or have discussions on the road corridors.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. I have raised this issue of caribou in the House many times. The Bathurst caribou herd is in a desperate state, only 8,000 animals, down from a high of 480,000; yet our government has not concluded any extra funding in the 2019-2020 budget for this crisis.
I would like to know from the Minister whether this recent meeting is going to result in any real action to save the Bathurst caribou herd. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
I think that, in the past budget that we just approved, we did put some money into enhancing the Boots on the Ground Program. I think that it is a great program. I think that we put some money in to enhance that. I do believe, with our conversations with our counterparts over in Nunavut, that we will take some steps to help try and protect the Bathurst caribou herd. This was an initial meeting setting a path forward, and I am not sure if they have had these meetings before. We did share with them our concerns and the concerns from the Aboriginal leadership on this side of the border about the restrictions on the Nunavut side. They said that they would have a look at it.
I believe that this is a first step, and again, if we have the meeting in the fall time, and this would be in the fall before the election, obviously, if we were to have the meeting in the fall time, then I think that we will be able to have a broader discussion on plans to do what we can to mitigate the impact being felt by the Bathurst caribou herd. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to report to the Assembly that the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment has received Bill 35, Supply Chain Management Professional Designation Act, and wishes to report that Bill 35 is now ready for consideration in Committee of the Whole. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document entitled "Finding Common Ground." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Tabling of documents. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document entitled "Northwest Territories Community Counselling Program, Client Satisfaction Report 2018." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Tabling of documents. Minister of Environment and Natural Resources.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following documents entitled "Environmental Rights Act Annual Report 20032018"; and "20192020 Corporate Plan: Northwest Territories Hydro Corporation and Northwest Territories Power Corporation." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I will now call Committee of the Whole to order. What is the wish of committee? Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, committee wishes to consider Bill 26, Statistics Act. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. We will consider the bill after a brief recess. Let's take about five or 10 minutes. Thanks.
SHORT RECESS
I will now call Committee of the Whole back to order. Committee, we have agreed to consider Bill 26, Statistics Act. I will ask the Minister responsible for the bill to introduce it. Minister McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am here to present Bill 26, Statistics Act.
The Northwest Territories is the only jurisdiction in Canada which currently does not have statistics legislation that establishes a legal framework for the collection, protection, and dissemination of statistical information.
The purpose of the legislation is to establish a new Statistics Act for the Northwest Territories that will establish the roles and responsibilities of the Bureau of Statistics; outline data collection, analysis, and data dissemination procedures; describe methods to ensure the confidentiality of collected data; create offences and penalties for unauthorized disclosure of data; and provide the ability to enter into datasharing agreements.
Towards these efforts, the Government of the Northwest Territories has worked closely with Statistics Canada, the Information and Privacy Commissioner, and has engaged with other GNWT departments on the development of this legislation. This legislation will ensure that the NWT is consistent with all other jurisdictions in Canada and aligns with the mandate of the NWT Bureau of Statistics.
That concludes my opening remarks, and I am prepared for any questions Members may have. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. I will now turn to the chair of the Standing Committee on Government Operations, which is the committee that considered the bill, for opening comments. Mr. Testart.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Standing Committee on Government Operations was pleased to report on its review of Bill 26, Statistics Act, and today will take some comments from that report.
Bill 26, as the Minister said, establishes a legislative framework to support the continued work of the Northwest Territories Bureau of Statistics and the Department of Finance to collect, analyze, and share statistical information.
The committee received one written submission on the bill, from the Information and Private Commissioner of the Northwest Territories, Ms. Elaine KeenanBengts. On behalf of the committee, I would like to thank the Information and Privacy Commissioner for the input provided on Bill 26.
The clausebyclause review was held on February 28, 2019. At this meeting, the committee moved five separate motions to amend Bill 26. Four of those motions were carried, with concurrence from the Minister. The committee thanks the Minister and his staff for assistance provided to the committee during the review of this bill.
Individual Members may have additional comments. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Testart. Minister, would you care to bring witnesses into the Chamber?
Very deeply, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. SergeantatArms, please escort the witnesses into the Chamber. The Minister will take his seat at the witness table. Minister, will you please introduce your witnesses.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. To my right, I have Mr. David Stewart, the deputy minister of the Department of Finance. To my left, I have Laura Jeffrey, legal counsel for the Department of Justice. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, and welcome to the witnesses. I will now open the floor to general comments on Bill 26, if there are any general comments. Mr. Testart.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just wanted to comment on the importance of this piece of legislation. The work of the Statistics Bureau is crucial to building the evidence required to make sound public policy decisions in both the Northwest Territories and Canada, as our statistics are able to be shared. That helps us, especially as lawmakers, to better understand what's happening in our territory and how our decisions are influencing the economy, poverty, the health and wellness of our citizens. Having a sound legislative framework for the work of the statistics bureau is crucial to this initiative or to that principle. For a long time, the Statistics Bureau has been doing this work, and the legislation is now underpinning the success they have already demonstrated. I know I always appreciate getting regular updates from the Statistics Bureau over the course of my role as an MLA. If we did not have quality statistics, we just quite frankly could not understand where we need to target our energies as a government and how we can best impact the lives of our residents for the better.
I thoroughly support this act. There is an unfinished matter that we will get to later, but I think this is a very important piece of legislation, and that importance cannot be understated. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Testart. Further? Seeing no further general comments, we will proceed to a clausebyclause review of the bill. We will defer the bill number and title until after consideration of the clauses. I believe there are 18 clauses, so we can take them one at a time. Committee, please turn to page 1 of the bill. I will call out each clause. If the committee agrees, please respond as such.
Clauses 1 through 9 inclusive, approved.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that Bill 26 be amended (a) in paragraph 10.1(d) by striking out the period and substituting a semicolon; and (b) by adding the following after paragraph 10.1(d): "(e) the particulars of ownership, copyright, and rights to use information that will be retained, conveyed, or exercisable by each party." Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Testart. There is a motion on the floor. The motion is being distributed. I will wait until all Members have a copy. The motion has been distributed and is in order. To the motion. Mr. Testart.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. This amendment is similar to Nunavut's section 9 of their legislation to address information-sharing with other organizations. It would ensure that any ownership and exclusive rights issues to the information that we share must be addressed by the terms of the agreement to the satisfaction of the Minister. This would, in effect, ensure that Indigenous organizations and governments and other third parties, including NGOs, private corporations, et cetera, could place conditions into information-sharing agreements that protect their ownership of the data. Without this section, no such conditions are required, and the disposition of any information collected in these agreements would fall to the sole discretion of the Statistics Bureau, or ownership issues would be unresolved at best.
Earlier the Minister spoke about ensuring that this legislation is consistent with other statistics acts throughout the country, and we, as the standing committee, reviewed those acts and the legislative framework that underpins those statistical agencies. With the ever-increasing importance of information in the modern world, the committee felt very strongly that that needed to be addressed in any third-party agreements.
We received a submission from the Information and Privacy Commissioner that was very helpful in understanding the impact that this information has on the personal privacy of individuals and organizations. Data-sharing agreements are outside the government's normal possession of information, so they have to be handled differently. In this sense, where there has been a great deal of debate in Canada around the receipt of statistical information from Indigenous governments and nations to provincial and the federal government, we wanted to ensure that that issue was properly addressed in the legislation itself.
Now, certainly, the Minister can come up with any agreement that the Minister wants to and address any issue, but this gives certainty to any organization that is concerned about the particulars of ownership, copyright, and rights to use information that those will be part of any agreement signed into. It is not saying that the government will hold ownership, copyright, and the exclusive right to use their information; rather, it is saying that the Minister must address that concern before an agreement is entered into to the satisfaction of both parties.
That is what we intended with this amendment, to ensure that the security and ownership of information given to the Statistics Bureau was protected, and that it is clear to any member of the public and any organization concerned around the collection of statistical information that, at the end of the day, ownership will be something that will come up and will be part of any agreement that they sign with the government. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. To the motion. Minister McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. We disagreed with this. We found that this would be very disrespectful to the Indigenous governments. The Bureau of Statistics works closely with our Aboriginal government partners throughout the Northwest Territories, and this is a bit of a sensitive issue with for Indigenous governments.
Our view was that these issues are best solved through cooperation rather than the heavy hand of legislation. Having said that, we have a very good working relationship with Indigenous governments. We have worked with them on a number of occasions. Cabinet will not be supporting this motion.
Thank you, Minister. To the motion. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I noted in the Minister's remarks that he indicated that the Information and Privacy Commissioner and other GNWT departments have been engaged in the development of the legislation. That is a good thing. I didn't hear anything about engagement with Indigenous governments. I assume, then, that the Minister has not heard directly from Indigenous governments on this issue.
I don't really understand what the problem is. Nunavut has the exact same wording in its legislation dating from 2006. They have had this in place and working now for 12-and-a-half years. If there had been a problem with this kind of language, you would think that their act would have been changed in some way. It is the exact same wording, Mr. Chair; nothing different. When the committee was reviewing this, they went to the Nunavut act to try to understand what best practices might be over there, another northern jurisdiction. The exact same wording is taken out of this. I printed the bill myself, the Nunavut act, before I came in here to doublecheck this, so I don't know what the problem is in putting this in.
This does not require that anybody owns the information. This amendment would just say that the ownership of it should be agreed on when you get into the agreement. It doesn't say who owns it; it just says that you should spell that out to prevent problems from happening in the future. That is what this is about. This is about preventing problems from happening in the future.
The other sorts of things that are to be contained in the agreement are security and confidentiality of personal information, removal and destruction of individual identifiers, things like that. What is wrong with making sure that the agreement includes something about ownership, copyright, and right to use the information? It just makes common sense that you would want to put that in to prevent problems from happening in the future.
I don't understand why Cabinet is not in favour of this. I haven't seen any evidence. I haven't seen any correspondence or emails from Indigenous governments about this. If the Bureau of Statistics already has a great working relationship with Indigenous governments, that is wonderful, and this is not going to take away from that. It is just making sure that there is a common understanding of how the information is going to be used and who owns it at the end of the day. This is about preventing problems in the future, and this doesn't tell anybody what to do with the information.
With that, Mr. Chair, I will obviously be supporting the motion, and I urge my Cabinet colleagues to do the same in terms of ensuring that we have best practice here in the Northwest Territories. Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. I will now allow the mover of the motion to close debate. Mr. Testart.
Thank you for the opportunity. We, of course, during the committee review stage, spoke with the government about this, and I think that we have come to cross purposes, because what my colleague, the honourable Member from Frame Lake, has said basically encapsulates where the committee was coming from. This is about best practices. This isn't about ensuring one way or the other that there is an outcome; it is about addressing the concern that, rightfully, is a concern of anyone entering into these agreements is properly dealt with.
It gives confidence, again, to our partners who are providing this statistical information. It gives confidence to members of the public who are looking at this information to ensure that it is consistent with the high standards of privacy that we have set as a government for our citizens, and I think that this is an improvement. It is one of those improvements that is so important to our legislative process, working to research each clause of the bill and understand how to make those clauses better.
I do not agree with the Minister's concerns, and quite frankly, I don't understand them. We haven't received any submissions from Indigenous governments that inform that position, and we haven't been presented with any of that evidence, either. This does appear to be best practice for the North and best practice to ensure that ownership, copyright, and rights to use information are properly protected, because we don't want the government running roughshod over those rights and for people entering into these agreements not to be able to exercise those rights and have confidence that those issues with going to be addressed. That is why this motion is in important and will greatly improve this piece of legislation.
Mr. Chair, I would like to ask for a recorded vote. Thank you.
