Agreed.
Clauses 71 to 73, does committee agree?
Agreed.
Committee, to the bill as a whole, does committee agree that Bill 52, Elevators and Lifts Act is now ready for third reading?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. Does the committee agree that this concludes our consideration of Bill 52, Elevators and Lifts Act?
Agreed.
Thank you, Minister, and thank you to your witnesses. Sergeantatarms, please escort the witnesses from the Chamber.
Committee, we've agreed to consider Bill 48, Arbitration Act. I will ask the Minister of Justice to introduce the bill.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I am here today to present Bill 48, Arbitration Act. The current Arbitration Act was enacted decades ago and has had few amendments since that time. The Arbitration Act establishes the default terms of an arbitration agreement made between two parties. Many powers that an arbitrator possesses in other jurisdictions are not currently available in the Northwest Territories meaning arbitration is currently a less attractive dispute resolution mechanism in this jurisdiction.
This bill is based substantially on the Uniform Arbitration Act, which was adopted in 2016 by the Uniform Law Conference of Canada. The Uniform Law Conference of Canada provides independent analysis and recommendations for the harmonization and reform of laws in Canada. The proposed new act would also bring the NWT's legislation in line with recent legislation elsewhere in Canada and ensure consistency with prevailing arbitral practices.
The bill provides extensive and necessary updates to the law governing arbitration, including provisions that will address such things as the commencement and consolidation of arbitral proceedings, jurisdiction of arbitral tribunals, the making of arbitral awards and awarding of costs, and the termination of arbitral proceedings.
The department engaged with other GNWT departments, the NWT Branch of the Canadian Bar Association, the Law Society of the Northwest Territories, the Union of Northern Workers, and the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories on the proposed legislation.
Based on discussions with the Union of Northern Workers, the department has determined it is most appropriate to exclude arbitrations conducted under the Public Service Act and Education Act from being brought under the new legislation. The new Arbitration Act is more designed to meet the needs of commercial arbitrations rather than labour arbitrations. To this effect, I will be bringing forward a number of motions today to amend the bill and make this exclusion.
Replacing the outdated legislation with a more modern and uptodate Arbitration Act will give NWT residents more options for resolving disputes without having to go to court. Arbitration is a voluntary process that is more flexible and informal than going to court and is a good alternative for people to resolve disputes fairly, quickly, and efficiently.
This concludes my opening remarks, and I would be pleased to answer any questions that Members may have regarding Bill 48. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Minister, would you like to bring witnesses into the Chamber?
Thank you sergeantatarms, please escort the witnesses into the Chamber. Minister, will you please introduce your witnesses for the record.
Thank you. with us today, we have Brad Patzer, assistant deputy minister Attorney General with the Department of Justice, and to his right Ian Rennie, acting director of legislation division with the Department of Justice. Thank you.
Thank you, welcome. I will now turn to the chair of the Standing Committee on Social Development, the committee that reviewed the bill, for any opening comments or Bill 48. Ms. Cleveland.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, Bill 48, Arbitration Act, received second reading in the Legislative Assembly on March 30th, 2022, and was referred to the Standing Committee on Social Development for review.
Bill 48 replaces the existing Arbitration Act with a more modern law modelled after the Uniform Arbitration Act of 2016. This update is to modernize old arbitration legislation and bring it in line with international best practices. Committee received no submissions from the public on Bill 48.
On October 5th, 2022, the standing committee held a public hearing with the Minister of Justice and completed its clausebyclause review on the bill on October 11th, 2022.
On October 13th, 2022, Bill 48 was reported to the Assembly as ready for further consideration in Committee of the Whole. The committee's report on Bill 48 was read earlier today and was received and adopted by the Assembly. Individual Members may have additional comments or questions. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you I will now open the floor to general comments on Bill 48. Does committee agree that there are no comments for Bill 48?
Agreed.
Can we proceed to a clausebyclause review of the bill?
Agreed.
Committee, we will defer the bill number and title until after consideration of the clauses. I will call the clauses in groups. Please turn to page 1 of the bill.
Clause 1 and 2, does the committee agree?
Agreed.
Clause 3, does committee agree? Minister of Justice.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that subclause 3(5) of Bill 48 be amended:
By deleting the "or" at the end of the English version of paragraph A;
By deleting the period at the end of paragraph B and substituting "or"; and,.
By adding the following after paragraph B, "C. An arbitration under the Public Service Act or the Education Act."
Thank you.
Thank you. The motion is on the floor and being distributed. The motion is in order. To the motion. Minister of Justice.
Thank you, Madam Chair. This motion is part of a package of motions that will deal with the application of arbitration legislation to the Public Service Act and Education Act.
Upon review of the bill, the Union of Northern Workers advised the department that they were concerned with the application of the proposed new Act, notably, that Bill 48 is primarily geared towards commercial and other arbitrations, not labour arbitrations. The Department of Justice has developed these motions to address these concerns. The department is proposing to exclude the application of the new Arbitration Act to labour arbitrations that are conducted under the collective agreements contemplated in the Public Service Act. This includes arbitrations conducted by the Union of Northern Workers and the Northwest Territories Teachers' Association.
If passed, Bill 48 would come into force but the current Act would also remain in force for the limited purpose of dealing with arbitrations conducted under collective agreements under the Public Service Act.
The Department of Finance intends to pursue updates to the Public Service Act which will, among other things, speak to labour arbitrations. The current Arbitration Act will be completely repealed once a new Public Service Act is advanced with its arbitration provisions therein. To avoid any confusion in the interim, the current Act will also be renamed to Arbitration Act 1988.
The department has reached out to the UNW and the Northwest Territories Teachers Association on this approach, neither of which have any objections. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? All those abstaining? Motion is carried.
Carried
Clause 3 as amended, does committee agree?
---Clauses 3 through 73 inclusive approved
Minister of Justice.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that Bill 48 be amended by adding the following immediately before the heading "Community Planning and Development Act, Arbitration Act, RSNWT 1988, c A5"
73.1:
The Arbitration Act RSNWT 1988, c A5 is amended by this section;
The title is repealed and the following is substituted: Arbitration Act 1988;.
Sections 2 and 3 are repealed and the following is substituted:
2. This Act applies to an arbitration under the Public Service Act or the Education Act;
3. For the purposes of arbitral proceedings to which this Act applies, a reference in an arbitration agreement to the Arbitration Act or Arbitration Act RSNWT 1988 c A5 is deemed to be a reference to this Act.
Thank you
Thank you. The motion is in order or sorry, the motion is on the floor being distributed. The motion is in order. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? All those abstaining? The motion is carried.
Carried
New clause 73.1, does committee agree?
Agreed.
Clauses 74, does committee agree?
Agreed.
Minister of Justice.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that Bill 48 be amended by adding the following after Clause 74: "Education Act, 74.1: Section 57 of the Education Act is amended by striking out “Arbitration Act” and substituting “Arbitration Act 1988 RSNWT 1988, c A5.” Thank you.
Thank you. The motion is on the floor and being distributed. The motion is in order. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? All those abstaining? Motion is carried.
Carried
New clause 74.1, does committee agree?
Agreed.
Clause 75, does committee agree?
Agreed.
