Debates of March 29, 2023 (day 152)

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following three documents: Additional Information for Return to Written Question 6419(2), Housing NWT Funding Formula for Local Housing Organizations; Housing NWT 202324 Consolidated Operating Budget; and, Northwest Territories Public Utilities Board 2022 Annual Report. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister. Tabling of documents. Minister responsible for Finance.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following three documents: InterActivity Transfers Exceeding $250,000 from April 1st to December 31st; 2022; InterActivity Transfers Exceeding $250,000 from April 1st to September 30th, 2022; and, the Diversity and Inclusion Framework document. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister. Tabling of documents. Madam Premier.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document: Learning from the Response to COVID19 Report and Recommendations. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to present to the House Bill 80, Dental Hygienists Profession Statute Act, to be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Bill 80 has had first reading.

First reading of bills. Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment.

Mr. Speaker, the moment we've all been waiting for. I wish to present to the House Bill 81, An Act to Amend the Education Act, No. 2, to be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister. Bill 81 has had first reading.

First reading of bills. Minister responsible for Justice.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to present to the House Bill 82, Legal Profession Act, to be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister. Bill 82 has had first reading.

First reading of bills. Minister responsible for Finance.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there's a lot of moments we've been waiting for. I wish to present to the House Bill 83, the Liquor Act, to be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister. Bill 83 has had first reading.

First reading of bills. Minister responsible for Industry, Tourism and Investment.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to present to the House Bill 84, An Act to Amend the Northwest Territories Business Development and Investment Corporation Act, to be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister. Bill 84 has had first reading. First reading of bills. Madam Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, usually I don't trump my Ministers but this time I'm trumping them.

This is the bill we've all been waiting for. Mr. Speaker, I wish to present to the House Bill 85, United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Implementation Act, to be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Premier. Bill 85 has had first reading.

First reading of bills. Minister responsible for Finance.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to present to the House Bill 89, Appropriation Act (Operations Expenditures), 20232024, to be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister. Bill 89 has had first reading.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Honourable Member for Range Lake, that Bill 77, Nursing Profession Act, be read for the second time.

This bill repeals and replaces the Nursing Profession Act, SNWT 2003, c.15. It will

Establish a single regulatory framework for all nurses in the Northwest Territories;

Update the name of the regulating body responsible for the regulation of nurses to the College and Association of Nurses of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut;

Establish new nursing designations for active members of the college, including

registered nurse authorized prescriber

licensed practical nurse,

registered psychiatric nurse, and

registered psychiatric nurse authorized prescriber.

It will

Establish new types of temporary certificates for active members;

Require the registrar to maintain registers for new types of registrants and provide for application procedures;

Provide for nurses' qualifications, scope of practice, entitlements, obligations and regulatory processes;

Update the process for the review of conduct of active members;

Provide for the appointment of a complaints officer;

Provide offence provisions related to new types of registrants;

Add broad bylawmaking powers to regulate the practice of nurses, including nurses who practice solely through virtual care; and,

Modernize language, including by using genderneutral pronouns.

This bill also

Includes consequential amendments to the Coroners Act, Emergency Medical Aid Act, Employment Standards Act, Evidence Act, Mental Health Act, Motor Vehicles Act, Pharmacy Act, Public Health Act; and, Vital Statistics Act; and

Repeals the Licensed Practical Nurses Act.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister. The 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. Bill 77 has had second reading.

Carried

Second reading of bills. Minister responsible for Environment and Natural Resources.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move, second by the Honourable Member from Yellowknife South, that Bill 78, Waste Reduction and Resource Recovery Act, be read for the second time.

This bill repeals and replaces the Waste Reduction and Recovery Act, SNWT 2003, c.29 to

Remove, amend and add certain definitions;

Broaden the scope of matters on which an advisory committee may provide advice and assistance;

Allow regulations to be made respecting waste reduction and resource recovery, including regulations.

Prescribing persons as producers of a designated material or setting out a method for determining producers,

Setting out responsibilities of producers of a designated material,

Requiring producers of a designated material to establish and operate systems in respect of waste reduction or resource recovery, and.

To establish and maintain funds associated with those systems,

Prohibiting or restricting the disposal of a designated material at certain premises in certain circumstances, and.

In respect of licenses to operate collection facilities or other facilities in respect of designated or prohibited materials,

Providing for a maximum number of licenses for a geographic area, and.

Allowing the Minister to approve one or more competitive processes to select successful applicants for a license;

Provide that only those fees collected by or on behalf of the Government of the Northwest Territories are to be paid into the environment fund, and updating the purposes for which the assets of that fund may be used;

Update administration, compliance, enforcement, offence and penalty provisions;

Clarify that the Act does not authorize a contravention of the Competition Act (Canada); and,

Modernize language, including by using genderneutral pronouns.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister. The 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. Bill 78 has had second reading.

Carried

Second reading of bills. Minister responsible for Justice.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Honourable Member for Yellowknife South that Bill 79, An Act to Amend the Judicature Act, be read for the second time.

This bill amends the Judicature Act to

Replace and update references to the Agreement on Internal Trade with the Canadian Free Trade Agreement of 2017; and,

Add provisions respecting judges of the Court of Appeal who may continue to be seized of actions or causes that they have started to hear before they ceased to hold office.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister. The 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. Bill 79 has had second reading.

Carried

Second reading of bills. Minister responsible for Finance.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, that Bill 89, Appropriations Act (Operations Expenditures), 20232024, be read for the second time.

This bill authorizes the Government of the Northwest Territories to make appropriations for operations expenditures for the 20232024 fiscal year. It also sets out limits on amounts that may be borrowed by the Commissioner on behalf of the government, includes information in respect of all existing borrowing and all projected borrowing for the fiscal year and authorizes the making of disbursements to pay the principal of amounts borrowed.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister. The motion is in order. To the principle of the bill.