There is a motion on the floor to report progress. The motion is in order and nondebatable. All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried.
Carried
I will now rise and report progress. Mahsi.
Mr. Speaker, your committee has been considering Committee Report 4919(2) and Committee Report 5119(2) and would like to report progress with 25 motions carried, and that Committee Report 49 and Committee Report 5119(2) are concluded. And Mr. Speaker, I move that the report of the Committee of the Whole be concurred with.
Thank you, Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes. Do we have a seconder? Member for Sahtu. All those in favour? All those opposed? Any abstentions? The motion is carried.
Carried
Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Honourable Member for Range Lake, that Bill 68, An Act to Amend the Child Day Care Act, be read for the third time. And, Mr. Speaker, I request a recorded vote.
Thank you, Minister. The motion is in order. To the motion. Minister responsible for ECE.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we just considered this bill yesterday in Committee of the Whole. Some people may recall that there were motions moved at that point. It was a dead heat, and there was no changes to the bill as we had a couple of ties.
Since that time, I've spoken to the department, I've spoken to the chair of the Standing Committee on Social Development, and I considered how could we incorporate some of those changes that the Members would like to see, some of the concerns that the Members have been expressing, into the bill so we can find a clause that we can all agree on.
So the clause in question related to the disclosure of the identity of a complainant, someone who makes a complaint against a child care operator. And the reason that is included in the bill is because we want to create a robust system where parents feel empowered to bring forward their concerns about the services that their children are receiving from their child care operators. What we don't want to do, though, is create a situation where we're criminalizing people when we obviously don't need to. And so what was proposed originally in the bill probably too far in one direction. Committee came back with a proposal to adjust that language. I came back with a counterproposal. And neither of those were, I guess, acceptable to a large enough portion of this Assembly and so I think we've landed on some language that hopefully we can get some more support for.
So with that, Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Member for Range Lake, that clause 13 of Bill 68 to be amended by deleting proposed subclause 19.2(2) and substituting the following:
2. An operator shall not
retaliate against a complainant under section 19.1 or,
disclose the identity of a complainant under section 19.1.
3. Notwithstanding paragraph 2(b), an operator may disclose the identity of a complainant
to a lawyer retained by the operator to provide legal services in respect of a complaint
to a trusted advisor, or,
as authorized by the director.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. To the amendment.
Question.
Question has been called. Minister.
And so I just wanted to explain this a little bit. So what you're seeing here is in addition to the amendment that I moved yesterday, and that is that an operator may disclose the identity of a complainant, you know, to a lawyer, or as authorized by the director or to a trusted advisor. We understand that there are child care operators who may be new in the business. And they might want to seek advice from someone who has some more experience, or there's a million other scenarios. And we want to ensure that the operators feel like they are supported, and they can reach out and get that support. At the same time, we want to protect parents; we want to protect their identities if it might be detrimental.
And I will say that what this clause does, or what it attempts to do, is address a very, very small percentage of issues that ever arise. Most complaints, the vast majority, are dealt with through conversations with child care operators and they don't proceed to a point where there would be any sort of repercussions, any suspensions or anything like that. So this is not an indictment on the whole sector. This is to address some very small issue but an important issue to those who it affects. And so I hope that Members think that this addresses their concerns, and I hope that I can get their support in this motion. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. The motion is order. To the amendment.
Question.
Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? Any abstentions? The motion is carried.
Carried
To the motion as amended.
Question.
The Member for Hay River North. The Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes. The Member for Deh Cho. The Member for Hay River South. The Member for Thebacha. The Member for Kam Lake. The Member for Yellowknife North. The Member for Tu NedheWiilideh. The Member for Monfwi. The Member for Nahendeh. The Member for Yellowknife South. The Member for Sahtu. The Member for Range Lake. The Member for Inuvik Boot Lake.
All those opposed, please rise. All those abstaining, please rise.
The Member for Great Slave.
The results of the recorded vote: 14 in favour, zero opposed, one abstention. The motion is carried. Bill 68 has had third reading.
Carried
Third Reading of Bills.
Mr. Clerk, will you ascertain if the Commissioner of the Northwest Territories, the Honourable Margaret M. Thom, is prepared to enter the Chamber to assent to bills.
Mahsi. Good afternoon Mr. Speaker, Premier Cochrane, Ministers, Members of the Legislative Assembly, staff and visitors in the public gallery.
It is always a good feeling and honour to be here and see all of you. Thank you for your ongoing commitment and hard work on behalf of the people of the Northwest Territories. It is with great honour and respect that I acknowledge the territory of the Dene, Metis and Inuit of this great land. We are extremely grateful to live, work, celebrate, and be welcomed as visitors in your territory.
After the long and cold winter, it is nearly time to say, Spring is in the air. So enjoy the welldeserved, muchneeded Easter break to enjoy the beautiful spring weather, longer daylight hours, the single digit temperatures in some places, and the sunshine. This break will allow you to breathe in the good fresh air to ground you. I wish you all safe, enjoyable travels to your homes, your loved ones, your constituencies. Happy and Blessed Easter season with your loved ones.
Now as Commissioner of the Northwest Territories, I am pleased to assent to the following bills:
Bill 56, An Act to Amend the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation Act
Bill 57, Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2022
Bill 60, An Act to Amend the Petroleum Products and Carbon Tax Act
Bill 61, An Act to Amend the Ombud Act
Bill 62, An Act to Amend the Income Tax Act, No. 2
Bill 63, An Act to Amend Official Languages Act
Bill 66, An Act to Amend the Property Assessment and Taxation Act
Bill 67, An Act to Amend the Fire Prevention Act
Bill 68, An Act to Amend the Child Day Care Act
Bill 73, An Act to Amend the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act, No. 4
Bill 76, An Act to Amend the Electoral Boundaries Commission Act
Bill 86, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 3, 20222023
Bill 87, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Operations Expenditures), No. 3, 2023 2023
Bill 88, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 1, 20232024
Bill 89, Appropriation Act (Operations Expenditures), 20232024
Mahsi cho. Thank you. Quyananni. Merci beaucoup. Koana.
SHORT RECESS
Colleagues, please be seated. Colleagues, on behalf of the House, I thank the Commissioner, the Honourable Margaret M. Thom for being here today. It is an honour to have her join us in the Chamber. It has been a long sitting and I know we are eager to adjourn. But before we do, I would like to say a few words and I thank you for your time and attention.
First and foremost, I want to thank each of you. I know this sitting has been difficult at times but it has also been very productive. You have concluded consideration of the operations budget, three supplementary estimates, seven pieces of legislation, some of which I know were challenging, and 14 committee reports. This is in addition to numerous statements, questions and motions.
Colleagues, that's a lot of important work and you should be proud of yourselves. Mahsi.
Throughout this sitting, I have enjoyed your lively and thoughtful debates and discussions. We don't always see eyetoeye and we don't always agree. Some discussions in this House are very intense or uncomfortable. That's the nature of our job as the representatives of our people. Even when we don't agree, we can always find ways to work together and be respectful of each other and this institution. Colleagues, that is consensus government in action.
Consensus government does not mean that we must always agree. Consensus government does not mean that we will always get our way. Consensus government means that we will have the opportunity to share our views, influence policy and legislation, and represent the people who have elected us. I thank each of you for contributing to a successful sitting.
Colleagues, I also want to thank the interpreters who have joined us throughout this sitting. We honour our languages when we use them. The interpreters make it possible for us to use our languages on a daily basis, and I thank them for their service and commitment to honouring our official languages, our people, and our cultures. I know it has been challenging at times, the speed of some of our speeches, but I thank you and I really respect the work that you do.
Colleagues, finally, I want to take a moment to thank our clerk, Mr. Tim Mercer, and congratulate him on his retirement. Mr. Mercer has served as clerk of this institution for twenty years. That's 870 sitting days. He has served six Assembly's, that's 63 Members and six Speakers, I am very proud to be one of those Members and also one of those speakers.
Tim, I want to thank you for your valuable advice you have given to me and to all Members for many years. It was always appreciated. And sometimes we even followed it.
Tim, as Clerk of the Legislative Assembly, your corporate and procedural knowledge is second to none. I know we are in good hands with Mr. Rutland taking the helm. You will be deeply missed. Tim, I know you love sailing and I hope you have the opportunities to spend many beautiful summer days on Great Slave Lake aboard the Picante. Mr. Clerk, hold fast and stay true.
Colleagues, please join me in thanking Mr. Mercer for his dedication and service.
Thank you, colleagues.
Applause
Orders of the day for Thursday, May 25th, 2023, 1:30 p.m.
Prayer
Ministers’ Statements
Members’ Statements
Returns to Oral Questions
Oral Question 1343-19(2), Impacts of COVID-19 on Education
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Acknowledgements
Oral Questions
Written Questions
Returns to Written Questions
Replies to Commissioner’s Address
Petitions
Reports of Committees on the Review of Bills
Reports of Standing and Special Committees
Tabling of Documents
Notices of Motion
Motions
Notices of Motion for First Reading of Bills
First Reading of Bills
Second Reading of Bills
Bill 64, An Act to Amend the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act, No. 3
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Bill 23, An Act to Amend the Public Utilities Act
Bill 29, Resource Royalty Information Disclosure Statute Amendment Act
Minster’s Statement 264-19(2), Response to the NWT Chief Coroner’s Report on Suicide
Tabled Document 681-19(2), Government of the Northwest Territories Response to Committee Report 26-19(2): Report on the Child and Family Services Act – Lifting Children, Youth and Families: An All of Territory Approach to Keeping Families Together
Report of Committee of the Whole
Third Reading of Bills
Orders of the Day
Thank you, Mr. Clerk. This House stands adjourned until Thursday, May 25th, 2023 at 1:30 p.m.
---ADJOURNMENT
The House adjourned at 8:40 p.m.
