Thank you, Madam Speaker. I give notice that on Thursday, November 5, 2020, I will move the following motion: I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Hay River North that, notwithstanding Rule 4, when the House adjourns on Thursday, November 5, 2020, it shall be adjourned until Wednesday, February 3, 2021; and further, that at any time prior to February 3, 2021, if the Speaker is satisfied, after consultation with the Executive Council and Members of the Legislative Assembly, that the public interest requires that the House should meet at an earlier time during the adjournment, or at a time later than the scheduled resumption of the House, the Speaker may give notice and thereupon the House shall meet at the time stated in such notice and shall transact its business as it had been duly adjourned to that time. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Madam Speaker, I move, seconded by the Honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, that Bill 20, an Act to Amend the Employment Standards Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. The motion is in order and non-debatable. All those in favour? All those opposed? Abstentions? The motion is carried.
---Carried.
Madam Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, that Bill 17, An Act to Amend the Corrections Act, be read for the second time. The bill amends the new Corrections Act which is not yet in force. The bill amends the section of the act dealing with rule breaches and the imposition of disciplinary and corrective measures. It ensures that reasons must be provided for both a finding of guilt respecting an alleged breach of a rule and any disciplinary or corrective measures imposed. It ensures that an inmate can appeal both a finding of guilt and any measures imposed. Finally, it ensures that the director of investigations and standards has all the necessary powers on appeal to address both the finding of guilt and any disciplinary or corrective measures imposed. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you. The motion is in order. To the principle of the bill?
Question.
Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? Abstentions? The motion is carried.
---Carried
Minister of Justice.
Madam Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to waive Rule 73(2) to have Bill 17 moved directly into Committee of the Whole for consideration. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
The Minister of Justice is seeking unanimous consent to refer Bill 17 directly to Committee of the Whole for consideration later today. Are there any nays? As there are no nays, Bill 17 is referred to the Committee of the Whole for consideration later today.
---Unanimous consent granted
Second reading of bills. Minister of Justice.
Bill 18:
Madam Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, that Bill 18, An Act to Amend the Legal Profession Act, be read for the second time. This bill amends the Legal Profession Act to remove the requirement that an applicant for admission as a member of the society must be physically present in the Northwest Territories to take and sign the oath or affirmation that is required before engaging in the practice of law in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
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 18 has had second reading. Minister of Justice.
Madam Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to waive Rule 73(2) to have Bill 18 moved directly into Committee of the Whole for consideration. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
The Minister of Justice is seeking unanimous consent to refer Bill 18 directly to Committee of the Whole for consideration later today. Are there any nays? As there are no nays, Bill 18 is referred to the Committee of the Whole for consideration later today.
---Unanimous consent granted
Second reading of bills. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Bill 19:
Madam Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, that Bill 19, An Act to Amend the Student Financial Assistance Act, be read for the second time. This bill amends the Student Financial Assistance Act to prohibit the inclusion of student's personal information in the public accounts, notwithstanding the Financial Administration Act. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
The motion is in order. To the principle of the bill. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Madame la Presidente. Yes. I wish to speak to the principle of this bill. The current practice is that, of course, we provide good assistance and support for our students when they go off to study in post-secondary institutions, and that's a good thing. We also want to encourage them to come back to the Northwest Territories, and we have a loan remission program, and I think that is a way to ensure that our investment is protected. We want our students to come back here to the Northwest Territories.
The problem has been, in my view, that, when they come back to the Northwest Territories, the remissions that the individual students receive have been reported publicly with their individual names in the public accounts now for a number of years. That practice takes up space in the public accounts and has been characterized by some as an invasion of the students' privacy. The Standing Committee on Government Operations in the last Assembly reported several times and recommended that this practice stop, that it was an unnecessary disclosure of the students' private information. There was correspondence between the Information and Privacy Commissioner and the Comptroller General that I tabled in the last Assembly, as well, on this matter.
In working through it, it appeared that the best way to stop this practice was to actually amend the Student Financial Assistance Act, so I want to commend the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment for working with me as an individual Member to bring forward this change. It's something that I support and have worked toward for several years, so I'm very pleased to see this come forward today. I want to commend the Minister, again, and I think this is an illustration of how consensus government can truly work. Mahsi, Madam Speaker.
To the principle of the bill.
Question.
Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried.
---Carried
Bill 19 has had second reading. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Madam Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to waive rule 73(2) to have Bill 19 moved directly into Committee of the Whole for consideration. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. The Minister of Education, Culture and Employment is seeking unanimous consent to refer Bill 19 directly to the Committee of the Whole for consideration later today. Are there any nays?
---Unanimous consent granted
I call Committee of the Whole to order. What is the will of the committee? Mr. Norn.
Marsi cho, Mr. Chair. The committee wishes to consider the following documents: Bill 17, An Act to Amend the Corrections Act; Bill 18, An Act to Amend the Legal Profession Act; Bill 19, An Act to Amend the Student Financial Assistance Act; and, lastly, Tabled Document 217-19(2), Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 2, 2020-2021. Marsi cho, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, committee. We will take a short, five-minute break. Thank you.
---SHORT RECESS
I will call the Committee of the Whole back to order. Committee, we have agreed to consider Bill 17, An Act to Amend the Corrections Act. I will ask the Minister of Justice to introduce the bill.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am here today to present Bill 17, An Act to Amend the Corrections Act. I would like to thank the Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight for their review and for Members supporting the expedited consideration of this bill. As work progressed on the development of regulations to support the coming into force of the new NWT Corrections Act, the department concluded that Section 42 of the act lacked clarity. This section deals with the process for when the rules of a correctional centre are believed to have been breached by an inmate and when disciplinary or corrective measures are subsequently taken.
The amendment will ensure that inmates are properly informed of the reasons for both a finding of guilt and the imposition of a disciplinary or corrective measure. It will clarify their right to appeal both decisions, and it will ensure that the director of investigations and standards has sufficient authority to either reject an appeal or provide an inmate with redress. This will support procedural fairness for inmates and their right of appeal under the act. This concludes my opening remarks, and I would be pleased to answer any questions that Members may have regarding Bill 17. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Minister, would you like to bring witnesses into the Chamber?
Yes, I would.
Sergeant-at-Arms, please escort the witnesses into the Chamber. Minister, please introduce your witnesses.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. We have Mr. Mike Reddy, director of legislation, and Mr. Blair Van Metre, director of corrections services.
Thank you. I will now open the floor to general comments on Bill 17. Does the committee agree that there are no further general comments?
Agreed.
Can we proceed to a clause-by-clause review of the bill?
Agreed.
Committee, we will defer the bill number and title under the consideration of the clauses. Please turn to page 1 of the bill. Clauses 1, does committee agree?
---Causes 1 through 3 inclusive approved
To the bill as a whole, does committee agree that Bill 17, An Act to Amend the Corrections Act is now ready for third reading?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. Bill 17, An Act to Amend the Corrections Act, is now ready for third reading. Does committee agree that this concludes our consideration of Bill 17, An Act to Amend the Corrections Act?
Agreed.
Thank you, Minister, and our thanks to your witnesses. Sergeant-at-Arms, please escort the witnesses from the Chamber. Committee, we have agreed to consider Bill 18, An Act to Amend the Legal Profession Act. I will ask the Minister of Justice to introduce the bill.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am here today to present Bill 18, An Act to Amend the Legal Profession Act. I would like to thank the Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight for their review and to Members for supporting the expedited consideration of this bill. The purpose of Bill 18 is to remove the requirement that an applicant for admission as a member of the NWT Law Society must be physically present in the NWT to take and sign the oath or affirmation before a judge that is required before engaging in the practice of law in the NWT.
This amendment is expected to remove unnecessary costs to lawyers associated with the current requirement and to increase the pool of lawyers that can be accessed to provide services in the Northwest Territories. This issue was raised by the law society, which has indicated its support of the bill. This concludes my opening remarks, and I would be pleased to answer any questions that Members may have regarding Bill 18. Thank you.
Minister, would you like to bring witnesses into the Chamber?
Yes, please.
