Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Minister of Justice.
Thank you, Madam Chair. By way of some example, the Business Licence Act required business licences to be renewed by March 31st. So that deadline has, indeed, passed. Similarly, collection agency licences expired on March 31st, so that deadline has passed; and there are a number of government agencies that were required to file reports, often, also by March 31st, and some of those deadlines have passed. I'm not sure to what extent the Members may want me to run through a complete list, or if that gives a good sample. I'm happy to go through a few more examples, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Yellowknife North.
No, thank you, Madam Chair, that's fine. As the order requires, I look forward to seeing all of those deadlines in an order provided to Standing Committee. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Any further questions, Member for Yellowknife North? No. Member for Frame Lake.
Thanks, Madam Chair. I guess I have a similar question as my colleague from Yellowknife North. Can the Minister just get a little bit more specific about what kind of time periods we're actually talking about here? Some more examples would be really helpful. Thanks, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Minister of Justice.
Thank you, Madam Chair. The person with more specifics would be the witness that I am lucky to have with me today, so if I could turn it over to Mr. Reddy, please.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Reddy.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Keeping in mind my first job as a legislative drafter, but by virtue of being in that position, I have learned a lot from departments in terms of some of the timelines that they're running up against over the last little while. I don't profess to be an expert, but I'll share the information that I have.
With respect to the business licence example that the Minister spoke of, as well as the insurance renewal example that the Minister spoke of, my understanding is that businesses, effectively, were looking for a couple of extra months to ensure that they get all their paperwork in order. In the example of business licences, I believe the new deadline would be somewhere around July 1st, the middle of July. Likewise, with the insurance deadline, that would be extended by about two months as well.
Thank you, Mr. Reddy. Member for Frame Lake.
Thanks, Madam Chair. I guess maybe I will paraphrase what I think I heard in some plainer language, but I want to thank our witness for saying that. As I understand it, this bill really is about ensuring business continuity so that businesses, small businesses in particular, can continue to operate if they have licences or permits or things that have expired. It could also be used to extend appointments for boards where they might lose quorum. Appointments, that kind of thing, and maybe places where individuals could be severely inconvenienced if a driver's licence expires. They need to travel in another jurisdiction. They don't have valid ID. Are those the kinds of examples of things that this government would expect to use this authority for? Thanks, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Minister of Justice.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Those are all perfect examples. That is exactly the nature of what is being contemplated here. If you sense any kind of reluctance to provide a long laundry list, it's only because, frankly, we don't have the complete list necessarily. A lot of staff are really only getting back into their offices in a more regularized fashion. The examples that I think we've given here from the table, as well as what's been noted by the Member, are all very good examples and exactly the type of thing that's at issue here.
Really, as we begin to move from a more emergency stage and to, perhaps, a bit of a clean-up stage is when we would expect to be identifying precisely how far. Do we need 30 extra days? Do we need 60 extra days, et cetera? Some of that is just ensuring that all departments have that ability to come forward, request the order, and go through this process, but it is exactly in line with the kinds of procedural and timeline or appointment or et cetera related requests that we're making. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Frame Lake.
Thanks, Madam Chair. I'm asking a few questions that I actually know the answers to, just so that the public might have a better understanding of where we're going, and why we are doing this. How long would the authority to make these temporary variations or extensions, how long would that stay in place? Thanks, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Minister of Justice.
Thank you, Madam Chair. It is six months from the time of this Act, Madam Chair, and there is no intention to hopefully be in a position to have to renew it beyond that point. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Frame Lake.
Thanks, Madam Chair. How would the public actually know about these extensions or variations? Thanks, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member. Minister of Justice.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Any orders here are to be published on a website that will be maintained by the Government of the Northwest Territories. They will also be part of the monthly publication in the Northwest Territories Gazette. Both of those are requirements of the Act itself. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Frame Lake.
Thanks, Madam Chair. How does the bill set out that Cabinet is going to work with Regular MLAs in looking at what orders might come forward? Thanks, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member. Minister of Justice.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Again, that is actually also part of the Act itself where it does say that the order is not to be made until seven days after a copy is provided to the Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight, so the intention there being that any such orders are being put through a process of review and consideration by the whole of the Assembly. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Frame Lake.
Thanks, Madam Chair. I just want to get some assurance from the Minister that this is not just giving notice to the standing committee. If the committee has concerns or issues with a particular order, that Cabinet would seriously consider any representations that might be raised by the committee; Regular MLAs, essentially? Thanks, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member. Minister of Justice.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes. Any of these orders, they do have to go through all of Cabinet. They are not just exclusive to one Minister. That said, there is also going to be input from the department. I can't say for sure, but I would expect that if one particular department requires something, that the committee will hear from that department to understand the full context of what's happening and why. Really, again, Madam Chair, my hope would be that there won't, hopefully, be too many of these occasions or that we can do them, but that when we do have to do them, of course, if we are in front of committee which is meant to be an engaged process and not a one-way process. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Frame Lake.
Thanks, Madam Chair. I guess I have a few comments I want to make with my remaining three minutes. I want to commend the Minister and my colleagues in Cabinet for bringing this forward. I know, early on during the pandemic, I actually sent an email to the Minister saying, "Geez, we're going to be sitting soon. Is there any legislative changes that we should look at making in terms of COVID response and planning and recovery and so on?" This, eventually, ended up on our desks.
This is something that other jurisdictions have done, so this is not something terribly unusual. Other jurisdictions in southern Canada have, perhaps, done it in different ways and so on. I am prepared to support this. I want to commend the Minister and her staff for working with us as Regular MLAs to make some important improvements to this bill and changes. There's a purpose section in here now that sort of better explains and maybe restricts the ways in which the authority can be exercised.
Certainly, the Regular MLAs, we worked hard to make sure that some specific pieces of legislation were exempted or outside the scope of this including access to information, the Health Information Act, and the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act itself, and that the act itself cannot be used in a way that would allow Cabinet to unilaterally extend things.
I'm happy to have worked with Cabinet on this, and it is a collective effort. It is very unusual times, and we don't want to inconvenience our residents with deadlines running out. We want to provide for business continuity. I am prepared to support this with the important improvements that Regular MLAs made.
The process that we're going through with this bill is quite extraordinary as well. Normally, bills go off to standing committee where they can be studied. We take public input, and Regular MLAs can then propose changes, try to work with our Cabinet colleagues to improve bills based on public comment and our own advice, and so on. That is not the process that is being used for this bill, but I think it's a reflection of the extraordinary times that we are in and the compressed time frame of this sitting and so on. It is not the usual process that we are going through, but I want to assure Members of the public that it is time limited, that we have worked with Cabinet to put some reasonable limitations in here. Based on that, I am prepared to support the bill. Thanks, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Are there any further questions or comments? All right. Does the committee agree that there are no further general comments?
Agreed.
We will proceed to a clause-by-clause review of the bill. Can we proceed to a clause-by-clause review of the bill?
Agreed.
Committee, we will defer the bill number and title until after consideration of the clauses. Please turn to page 3 if you have the bill. Clause 1, does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. Bill 10, Temporary Variation of Statutory Time Periods (COVID-19 Pandemic Measures) Act, is now ready for third reading. Does committee agree that this concludes our consideration of Bill 10, Temporary Variation of Statutory Time Periods (COVID-19 Pandemic Measures) Act?
Agreed.
Thank you. Thank you, Minister, and thank you to our witness. Sergeant-at-Arms, you may escort the witness from the Chamber.
Committee, we have agreed to consider Committee Report 1-19(2), Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment Report on Long-term Post-pandemic Recovery: Recommendations to the GNWT, and Committee Report 3-19(2), Standing Committee on Social Development Report on Long-term Post-pandemic Recovery: Recommendations to the GNWT.
We will begin with Committee Report 1-19(2), Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment Report on Long-term Post-pandemic Recovery: Recommendations to the GNWT. Does the chair of the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment have any opening remarks?
Thank you, Madam Chair. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, standing committees have continued to meet regularly. The GNWT's response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the long-term recovery of our economy and the territory have been focused on many of discussions that we have been having. The Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment as well as other standing committees have worked in tandem to develop committee reports that we read into the House earlier this week. As chair of the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment, I am pleased to introduce the report. I would like to thank all of my committee members for all their contributions to this report. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member for Nunakput. Committee, we have agreed to forego general comments on the report and proceed directly to the recommendations. Member for Nunakput.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that the committee recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories, through amendment of business development and investment corporation programs, increase business relief efforts through measures not limited to extending loan payment remission and providing loan forgiveness options; and further, that the business development and investment corporation expand investment programs to stimulate economic development; and furthermore, that amendments to the loan program, and a plan to expand the investment program, be completed and reported back to committee. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member for Nunakput. The motion is in order. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? Abstentions? The motion is carried.
---Carried
Member for Nunakput.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that this committee recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories review and revise the Business Incentive Policy in collaboration with the business community as well as Members of the Legislative Assembly; and further, that this work commence immediately and the status of work be reported to committee by September 1, 2020, including a comprehensive work plan and a projected implementation date for the updated Business Incentive Policy. Thank you, Madam Chair.
