Thank you, Member for Great Slave. Did the Minister want to respond, or you're good with that?
I'll take the positives out of that, Madam Chair, and leave it there. Thank you.
Thank you. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I, too, am in support of this reduction. It's time that we start to recognize the importance of small businesses. I know that there was an attempt in the last Assembly to try and get the tax rate down to zero, and the government at the time did not even give it time to hit the floor for debate. I am very pleased to see that we have a group here that understands the importance of small businesses and is willing to give them support in whatever way they can. This is one small way to do it. Just as taxes are required for civilization, so is small business required to keep people working and to move ahead and move the economy ahead and grow. Again, I just want to say that I'm in full support of this bill. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member. Minister, did you have any comments?
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Any further questions or comments to general comments? No? Okay. Since there are no further general comments, we can proceed to the clause-by-clause review of the bill. Committee, we will defer the bill number and title until after consideration of the clauses. Please turn to page 1 of the bill. Clause 1, does committee agree?
---Clauses 1 through 5 inclusive approved
Committee, to the bill as a whole. Does committee agree that Bill 16, An Act to Amend the Income Tax Act is now ready for third reading?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. Bill 16, An Act to Amend the Income Tax Act is now ready for third reading. Does committee agree that this concludes our considerations of Bill 16, An Act to Amend the Income Tax Act?
Agreed.
Thank you, Minister, and thank you to our witnesses. Sergeant-at-Arms, please escort the witnesses from the Chamber. Committee, we have agreed to consider Committee Report 10-19(2), Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment Report on Bill 3, An Act to Amend the Public Highways Act. I will go to the chair of the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment for any opening comments. Member for Nunakput.
Thank you, again. Bill 3 had second reading in the House and was referred to the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment on June 23, 2020. On August 25, 2020, and on October 15, 2020, committee's review of the bill was extended. On August 19, 2020, the committee invited comments and proposed that amendments from the communities across the Northwest Territories, Indigenous governments, and businesses involved in the use of the construction of roads. The committee received a written submission from the City of Yellowknife. The committee held a public hearing on Bill 3 on October 14, 2020. It had concluded its review of the bill, with a public clause-by-clause review on February 10, 2021. The committee passed four motions to amend Bill 3, all of which received concurrence with the Minister. Thank you, Madam Chair. Individual Members may have additional comments or questions to it. Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Nunakput. I will now open the floor to general comments on Committee Report 10-19(2), Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment Report on Bill 3, An Act to Amend the Public Highways Act. Do Members have any general comments? Member for Frame Lake.
Thanks, Madam Chair. I just would like to thank my colleagues that serve on the committee and the City of Yellowknife that made a written submission. This was an interesting issue that we had to deal with. GNWT was worried about incurring liability for winter roads that were being built off of our roads. We were told that this was an easy fix. We started to deal with this, actually, in the last Assembly. We didn't get to it, so it came back again into this Assembly. Although I thought it was supposed to be an easy fix, that's not the kind of bill we actually ended up with. We ended up with a bill that was going to absolve GNWT of any liability whatsoever for almost any highway, which was overkill, in my view.
It took a lot of effort on the part of the committee to work with the Minister to try to change the way that the bill read so that there was a more even balance of the rights of the government to try to protect themselves from liability but the rights of drivers to actually sue GNWT if highways are not maintained to certain standards. It took a long time to work with the Minister on this. That's why we had to get the extension, but I think we arrived at a good place. I also recognize that the Minister did commit to post a manual on the Infrastructure website that laid out and made more explicit and public standards for care and maintenance of our highways so that information is now public. All of this to say, Madam Chair, that committee had to work very hard on what I thought was an easy issue. We did fix a bill that needed a lot of work. I want to thank the Minister for working with us to get it right. Thanks, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member. Are there any other general comments? All right. Thank you, committee. Do you agree that you have concluded consideration of Committee Report 10-19(2), Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment Report on Bill 3, An Act to Amend the Public Highways Act?
Agreed.
Thank you, Committee. We have concluded consideration of Committee Report 10-19(2), Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment Report on Bill 3, An Act to Amend the Public Highways Act. Committee, we have agreed to consider Bill 3, An Act to Amend the Public Highways Act. I will ask the Minister of Infrastructure to introduce the bill.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm here to present Bill 3, An Act to Amend the Public Highways Act. The Public Highways Act is administered by the Department of Infrastructure and governs, amongst other things, the construction, maintenance, access to and use of highways within the Northwest Territories. This bill will amend the Public Highways Act to address the Government of the Northwest Territories' liability for loss or damage resulting from a failure to maintain primary highways in the Northwest Territories.
This bill requires the Minister to maintain primary highways and provides that the GNWT is liable, with exceptions, for loss or damage resulting from a failure to do so. This bill will make it clear that the Minister has no duty to maintain roads that are not designated as primary highway under the Public Highways Act.
During Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment review, recommendations were put forward and accepted, which:
improved clarity that the GNWT is liable for a failure to maintain and
address minor drafting issues.
I would be pleased to answer any questions Members may have. Quyanainni.
Thank you, Minister. I will now turn to the chair of Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment, the committee that considered the bill, for opening comments. Member for Nunakput.
Thank you, Madam Chair. No. Having introduced Committee Report 10-19(2) earlier today, I have no additional comments to the bill at this time. I would just like to thank committee for all the hard work that they have done and my committee staff in their efforts in reviewing this piece of legislation. Individual Members may have additional comments, as well. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member. Minister, would you like to bring witnesses into the Chamber?
Yes, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Sergeant-at-Arms, please escort the witnesses into the Chamber. Minister, will you please introduce your witnesses?
Thank you, Madam Chair. I am joined by witnesses Steve Loutitt, deputy minister for the Department of Infrastructure, as well as Jacques Roberge, senior legislative advisor with the Department of Infrastructure. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Minister. I will now open the floor to general comments on Bill 3. Are there any general comments? Seeing that there are no general comments, 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 1 of the bill. Clause 1, does committee agree?
Committee, to the bill as a whole, does committee agree that Bill 3, An Act to Amend the Public Highways Act, is now ready for third reading?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. Bill 3, An Act to Amend the Public Highways Act, is now ready for third reading. Does committee agree that this concludes our consideration of Bill 3, An Act to Amend the Public Highways Act?
Agreed.
Thank you, Minister, and thank you to our witnesses. Sergeant-at-Arms, you may escort the witnesses from the Chamber. Committee, we have agreed to consider Bill 12, An Act to Amend the Apprenticeship, Trade and Occupational Certification Act. I will ask the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment to introduce the bill.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I am here today to present Bill 12, An Act to Amend the Apprenticeship, Trade and Occupational Certification Act. I want to thank the Standing Committee on Social Development for its interest in and review of the bill. The Apprenticeship, Trade and Occupational Certification Act gives the Minister authority to issue various types of certifications for apprenticeships, trades, and occupations in the NWT.
This bill seeks to amend the act to allow for the issuance of other prescribed certificates, to give the Department of Education, Culture and Employment the ability to issue certificates of achievement in business competency to NWT journeypersons, commonly known as Blue Seal Certificates. Blue Seal Certificates, which are issued in a number of other jurisdictions, formally recognize achievement in business competency when a journeyperson has completed recognized business courses and training. There is currently no mechanism for granting Blue Seal Certificates under the act.
Having a Blue Seal Certificate program in the NWT that formally recognizes the achievements of journeypersons in business competency would both support the growth of businesses and the continued professional development of journeypersons. The amendment would also keep the NWT aligned with other jurisdictions where Blue Seal Certificates or similar certificates are issued and encourage associated business education and training in the North.
I am pleased to bring forward these amendments that will have a positive impact on our residents and the NWT labour market. This concludes my opening remarks, and I would be pleased to answer any questions that the Members may have regarding Bill 12. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. I will now turn to the chair of the Standing Committee on Social Development, the committee that considered the bill, for opening comments. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Bill 12, An Act to Amend the Apprenticeship, Trade and Occupational Certification Act, received second reading in the Legislative Assembly on October 29, 2020, and was referred to the Standing Committee on Social Development for review. On February 10, 2021, the standing committee held a public hearing with the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment and completed its clause-by-clause review of the bill. I thank the committee and committee staff for their efforts in reviewing this legislation. Individual Members may have additional comments or questions. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member. Minister, would you like to bring witnesses into the Chamber?
Yes, please.
Sergeant-at-Arms, please escort the witnesses into the Chamber. Minister, please introduce your witnesses.
Thank you. We have Mr. Michael Saturnino, assistant deputy minister, labour and income security, and Mr. Mike Reddy, director of legislation, Department of Justice. Thank you.
Thank you and welcome. I will now open the floor to general comments on Bill 12. Are there any general comments? Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I am happy to see this. I know that a number of jurisdictions do that, and there are more and more Blue Seal kind of courses popping up at colleges across the country. I am just wondering the impetus for this. Do we plan on giving out any Blue Seals as there are presently people waiting to be able to get certified for one of these? Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Minister.
Thank you. I think my dad is waiting. There is criteria that needs to be developed. There are a lot of different things that have to happen, but I can ask Mr. Saturnino for some clarification. Thank you.
Thank you. Mr. Saturnino.
Thank you, Madam Chair. There has definitely been some interest expressed from different journeypersons across the Northwest Territories. We don't exactly have statistics on how many we intend to see in the first year or in the first few years, but there has been interest in it and a commitment from across a few different jurisdictions to try to harmonize and bring a Blue Seal to most provinces and territories. Our plan is to do so, and then we will, of course, promote it and communicate it. Hopefully, we will get a big uptake for the program. Thank you.
Thank you. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes. I am looking forward to seeing this, and hopefully, we can get a few of our Red Seals to also get Blue Seals. I am just wondering if there are any plans for Aurora College to provide the training required for a Blue Seal.
Thank you. Minister.
Thank you. If you look at other jurisdictions, what they do, there are a number of different courses that you can take. Then that is confirmed by the department, and then you get issued a Blue Seal. I am sure that Aurora College has those courses. I don't have a list with me, but as a polytechnic, they would definitely have those types of courses. Thank you.
Thank you. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes, I am waiting to get my Blue Seal. I think it's a good thing because tradespeople, whether they know it or not, and I think most of them know it, they are businesspeople. I think having that extra certification and the ability to own and run their own business and maintain that I think is very important. It's a good change. The one question I would have is: if you have got people who are tradespeople but also have a degree in business, would they be allowed to challenge the exam or would they be grandfathered in? Thank you, Madam Chair
