Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Honourable Member for Nahendeh, that Bill 8, Supplementary Appropriations Act (Infrastructure Expenditures) No. 2, 2020-2021, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Motion is in order. To the motion. Question has been called. All those in favour. All those opposed. Any abstentions. Motion is carried.
---Carried
Bill 8 has had first reading. First reading of bills, Minister of Finance.
Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Honourable Member for Nahendeh, that Bill 9, Supplementary Appropriations Act (Operations Expenditures), No. 1, 2020-2021, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Motion is in order. To the motion. Question has been called. All those in favour. All those opposed. Any abstentions. Motion is carried.
---Carried
Bill 9 has had first reading. First reading of bills. Minister of Justice.
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to proceed with first reading of Bill 10, Temporary Variation of Statutory Time Periods (COVID-19 Pandemic Measures) Act. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. The Minister of Justice is seeking unanimous consent to proceed with first reading of Bill 10. Are there any nays? There are no nays.
---Unanimous consent granted
The Minister of Justice may proceed.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the Honourable Member for Sahtu, that Bill 10, Temporary Variation of Statutory Time Periods (COVID-19 Pandemic Measures) Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. To the motion. Question has been called. All those in favour. All those opposed. Any abstentions. Motion is carried.
---Carried
Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Honourable Member for Nahendeh, that Bill 8, Supplementary Appropriations Act (Infrastructure Expenditures) No. 2, 2020-2021 be read for the second time. This bill makes supplementary appropriations for infrastructure expenditures of the Government of the Northwest Territories for the 2020-2021 fiscal year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Motion is in order. To the principle of the bill.
Question.
Question has been called. All those in favour. All those opposed. Any abstentions. The motion is carried.
---Carried
Bill 8 has had second reading. Second reading of bills. Minister of Finance.
Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Honourable Member for Nahendeh, that Bill 9, Supplementary Appropriations Act (Operations Expenditures), No. 1, 2020-2021 be read for the second time. This bill makes supplementary appropriations for operations expenditures of the Government of the Northwest Territories for the 2020-2021 fiscal year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Motion is in order. To the principle of the bill.
Question.
Question has been called. All those in favour. All those opposed. Any abstentions. The motion is carried.
---Carried
Bill 9 has had second reading. Second reading of bills. Minister of Justice.
Mr. Speaker, I seek consent to proceed with second reading of Bill 10, Temporary Variation of Statutory Time Periods (COVID-19 Pandemic Measures) Act. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. The Minister of Justice is seeking unanimous consent to proceed with second reading of Bill 10. Are there any nays? There are no nays.
---Unanimous consent granted
The Minister of Justice may proceed.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the Honourable Member for Sahtu, that Bill 10, Temporary Variation of Statutory Time Periods (COVID-19 Pandemic Measures) Act, be read for the second time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Motion is in order. To the principle of the bill.
Question.
Question has been called. All those in favour. All those opposed. Any abstentions. The motion is carried.
---Carried
Bill 10 has had second reading. Minister of Justice.
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to waive rule 73(2) and have Bill 10, Temporary Variation of Statutory Time Periods (COVID-19 Pandemic Measures) Act move directly into Committee of the Whole for further consideration today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. The Minister is seeking unanimous consent to waive rule 73(2) and have Bill 10 move directly into Committee of the Whole for further consideration later today. Are there any nays? There are no nays.
---Unanimous consent granted
Bill 10 has been moved directly into Committee of the Whole for consideration alter today. Thank you. Item 20, consideration of Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters: Committee Report 1-19(2), Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment Report on Long-Term Post-Pandemic Recovery: Recommendations to the GNWT; Committee Report 2-19(2), Standing Committee on Government Operations Report on Long-term Post-Pandemic Recovery: Recommendations to the GNWT; Committee Report 3-19(2), Standing Committee on Social Development Report on Long-term Post-Pandemic Recovery: Recommendations to the GNWT; and Bill 10, Temporary Variation of Statutory Time Periods (COVID-19 Pandemic Measures) Act.
I call Committee of the Whole to order. What is the wish of committee, Mr. Norn?
Marsi cho, Madam Chair. The committee wishes to consider the following documents: Bill 10, Committee Report 1-19(2); and Committee Report 3-19(2). Marsi cho.
Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. We will take a short recess and resume with the first item.
---SHORT RECESS
I will call committee back to order. Committee, we have agreed to consider Bill 10, Temporary Variation of Statutory Time Periods (COVID-19 Pandemic Measures) Act. I will ask the Minister responsible for the bill to introduce it. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I do have some opening remarks. I am here to present Bill 10, Temporary Variation of Statutory Time Periods (COVID-19 Pandemic Measures) Act. This bill authorizes the Commissioner and Executive Council to make orders to be registered as regulations that would result in the temporary variation of a date, deadline, or time period set out in the act.
We have heard, during the course of this sitting, that, in March, the Government of the Northwest Territories had to mobilize quickly to take measures required to respond to the immediate requirements of the COVID-19 pandemic, including transitioning the vast majority of employees to working from home; redeploying employees to areas of high need; and focusing government efforts on the essential areas of service.
In April, it became obvious that public bodies, councils, and other organizations in the Northwest Territories were having difficulty, or would soon be having difficulty, meeting statutory deadlines due to necessary changes in their operations as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Emergency Management Act, or EMA, allows for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs to make orders relating to a list of items to address various immediate aspects of an emergency situation, but, as set out presently, there was a concern that the authority in that act would not support orders that would address impacts to usual business operations.
The Department of Justice examined several possibilities for addressing the issues identified and had discussions with other departments to consider the best approach to addressing the concerns that were raised to them about compliance with statutory timelines. It was decided that a streamlined bill, focusing exclusively on temporarily varying dates, time periods, and deadlines, would be a prudent approach to addressing this issue.
The proposed bill does not amend any statutes. It enables orders to be made that would have the effect of temporarily amending timelines set out in other statutes. It allows orders to have a retroactive effect as far as March 24, 2020, which was the date that the state of emergency was declared under the EMA. Any temporary variation of a statute will remain in effect for a maximum of six months from now.
I would like to thank Members for expediting the review of this bill. Their cooperation was needed to have this bill considered here at this sitting. The input of Members has resulted in adjustments to the bill before introduction, to clarify its purpose and to limit its application. This bill is a novel approach to a novel problem, and I commend Members for working together to see it through.
That concludes my opening remarks, Madam Chair. I would be happy to answer any questions the Members might have.
Thank you, Minister of Justice. Would you like to bring witnesses into the Chamber?
Yes, I would. I have one witness, please.
Thank you. Sergeant-at-Arms, please escort the witness into the Chamber. Minister, please introduce your witness.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Seated with me is Mr. Michael Reddy. He is the director of the Legislation Division.
Welcome, Mr. Reddy. I will now open the floor to general comments on Bill 10. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Can I just get a little more explanation of what types of orders we are anticipating to see under this, and do we have any already drafted or ready to go? Just kind of a sense of it, a little more detail on what we can expect to see this power used for. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Minister of Justice.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I know the department has already done some work to ensure that a draft is ready to go, but more to the point, I think, of the Member's question, the intent really is, if there is a deadline, for example, the Insurance Act provides a specific set deadline of June 30th and we are concerned that there will be occasions when that deadline can't be met, the orders will, in fact, then set a different or alternative deadline that is beyond that point. That is really the goal and the purpose of it. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I also note that the bill has the ability to be retroactive. We've seen licence deadlines extended. We've seen a number of kinds of deadlines that we've already missed, so can I just get a sense of what deadlines have already passed that we anticipate creating retroactive orders for? Thank you, Madam Chair.
