Thank you. The motion is in order. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? Abstentions? The motion is carried.
Carried
Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I move that this committee recommends the Department of Education, Culture and Employment review the territorialbased support team function to ensure teachers and students receive the support they need in a way that meets the community’s needs and establish outcomefocused measures to determine if the team is achieving its goals. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member. The motion is in order. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? Abstentions? The motion is carried.
Carried
Thank you, committee. Do you agree that you've concluded consideration of Committee Report 6119(2)?
Agreed
Thank you, committee. We've concluded consideration of Committee Report 6119(2), Standing Committee on Social Development Report on the Review of Bill 81: An Act to Amend the Education Act, No. 2.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm here today to present Bill 81, An Act to Amend the Education Act, No. 2.
Bill 81 represents the first phase of amendments that make operational and technical improvements necessary to improve the education system. A second phase will continue beyond the 19th Assembly to allow for more indepth discussions with Indigenous governments, education bodies and the public on the future of education governance in the Northwest Territories.
This bill seeks to amend the Education Act to recognize the vital role Indigenous peoples and Indigenous governments have in education; eliminate confusion about roles and responsibilities of the Minister and education bodies; protect parental involvement in decisions around student grade placement and education program modifications; and support information sharing and accountability. These amendments also help to address the findings and recommendations of internal evaluations and reports of the Office of the Auditor General of Canada.
Bill 81 was informed by the extensive public engagement that occurred in 2021, as well as detailed engagement sessions with education bodies throughout the development the bill.
I wish to thank standing committee for its thoughtful review and collaboration in helping to strengthen this bill through their motions to amend. I wasn't quite sure we'd get here, but here we are, so thank you to standing committee. This concludes my opening remarks. I'd be pleased to answer any questions that Members may have. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Would you like to bring witnesses into the Chamber?
Yes, I would.
Thank you. Sergeantatarms, please escort the witness into the Chamber.
Minister, would you please introduce your witnesses for the record?
Thank you. To my left, I have John MacDonald, the deputy minister of Education, Culture and Employment. And on my right, Laura Jeffrey, legislative counsel with legislation division and the Department of Justice.
Welcome. I will now turn to the chair of Standing Committee on Social Development, the committee that reviewed the bill for any opening comments on Bill 81.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, Bill 81, An Act to Amend the Education Act, No. 2, received second reading in the Legislative Assembly on March 30th, 2023, and was referred to the Standing Committee on Social Development for review. The standing committee held a public hearing in Yellowknife on May 31st, 2023. The committee then travelled to Inuvik, Norman Wells, and Deline from June 6th to the 9th, 2023, for further engagement on the bill.
The public hearings in communities were very well attended with empassioned concerns expressed from residents. The committee met with the chief and council of Behdzi Ahda' First Nation and also received six written submissions for the engagement process.
The committee held a clausebyclause review of the bill with the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment on August 15th, 2023. In an effort to address the concerns raised by residents, communities and organizations, the committee advanced five motions to amend the bill, all of which the Minister concurred with.
These motions make changes which include the removal of the requirement for education bodies to be responsible for transportation, provide greater participation of Indigenous governments in an oversight committee, and increase parental involvement in student education modification programs.
I would like to thank the public for their time to meet with committee to provide heartfelt and, at times, unsettling stories regarding their experience with the Northwest Territories education system. I'd like to thank committee members, legal experts, and staff for the work that they did on Bill 81. I'd also like to acknowledge the collaborative work by the Minister and the department in getting this bill to where it is today.
Individual Members may have additional comments or questions. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member. Members, can we forego comments and proceed to the clause by clause?
Agreed.
Thank you. Committee, we will defer the bill number and title until after consideration of the clauses. Please turn to page 3 of the bill.
---Clause 1 through 34 inclusive approved
Committee, to the bill as a whole, does committee agree that Bill 81, An Act to Amend the Education Act, No. 2, is now ready for third reading?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. Does committee agree that this concludes our consideration of Bill 81, An Act to Amend the Education Act, No. 2?
Agreed.
Thank you, Minister. Thank you to your witnesses. Sergeantatarms, please escort the witnesses from the Chamber.
Committee, we've agreed to consider Bill 94, Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2023. I will ask the Minister of Justice to introduce the bill.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm here today to present Bill 94: Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2023.
The purpose of Bill 94 is to amend various statutes of the Northwest Territories for which minor changes are proposed or errors or inconsistencies have been identified. Each amendment included in the bill had to meet the following criteria:
it must not be controversial;
It must not involve the spending of public funds;
It must not prejudicially affect rights; and,
It must not create a new offence or subject a new class of persons to an existing offence.
Departments responsible for the various statutes being amended have reviewed and approved the changes brought forward in this bill.
The proposed amendments are minor, uncontroversial or nonsubstantive and many consist of technical corrections. The amendments are of such a nature that the preparation and legislative consideration of individual bills to correct each statute would be timeconsuming for the government and the Legislative Assembly.
This concludes my opening remarks. I'd be happy to answer any questions. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Would you like to bring witnesses into the Chamber?
Yes, I would.
Thank you. Sergeantatarms, please escort the witness into the Chamber.
Minister, please introduce your witness.
Thank you. I'd like to welcome back Laura Jeffrey, legislative counsel with Justice. Thank you.
Thank you. I will now turn to the chair of Standing Committee on Social Development, the committee that reviewed the bill for any opening comments on Bill 94. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, your committee would like to report on its consideration of Bill 94, Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2023.
Bill 94 received second reading in the Legislative Assembly on June 2nd, 2023, and was referred to the Standing Committee on Social Development for review. On June 29th, 2023, the standing committee held a clausebyclause reading with the Minister of Justice.
Madam Chair, the committee reports that Bill 94, Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2023 is ready for consideration in Committee of the Whole. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Can we forego general comments on Bill 94 and proceed to the clause by clause?
Agreed.
Committee, we will defer the bill number and title until after consideration of the clauses. Please turn to page 1 of the bill.
Clauses 1 through 5, does committee agree?
Agreed.
Clauses 6 through 10, does committee agree?
Agreed.
Clauses 11 through 13, does committee agree?
Agreed.
Committee, to the bill as a whole, does committee agree that Bill 94, Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2023, is now ready for third reading?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. Does committee agree that this concludes our consideration of Bill 94, Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2023?
Agreed.
Thank you, Minister, and thank you to your witness. Sergeantatarms, please escort the witness from the Chamber.
Committee, we have agreed to consider Bill 93, Practice of Engineering, Geoscience and Applied Science Technology Act. I will ask the Minister of Infrastructure to introduce the bill.
Thank you. I'm here to present Bill 93, the Practice of Engineering, Geoscience and Applied Science Technology Act. Bill 93 seeks to repeal and replace the existing Engineering and Geoscience Professions Act.
I met with Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment to answer questions about the bill on July 18th and 25th, 2023. In addition to engaging with the NWT engineering firms on the regulation of technologists, the Department of Infrastructure also met with the Government of Nunavut to discuss how the bill might affect engineers in that territory. Legislative partners in Nunavut already made significant progress towards a draft bill aligning that territory's laws to our new act, which they hope to introduce that into territory's Legislative Assembly shortly.
This new version of the act will keep responsibility for overseeing the territory's engineering and geoscience professionals with the Northwest Territories and Nunavut Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists, otherwise known as NAPEG. The Department of Infrastructure worked closely with NAPEG in developing this bill to make sure the new governance framework will meet NAPEG’s needs and capacity while allowing public oversight where necessary. Most importantly, this bill will increase public safety by requiring NAPEG members to undergo continuing professional development throughout their careers and by giving NAPEG responsibility for accreditation of applied science technologists and technicians which are unregulated occupations in the two territories.
This bill will also help encourage engineers to work in the Territories in two ways:
By allowing NAPEG to grant restricted engineering licenses to professionals with foreign credentials; and,
By making it easier for engineers to resume work after parental leave.
Standing committee has indicated its support for this passage of Bill 93, and I thank the Members for their work in reviewing the bill.
That concludes my opening remarks, and I'm happy to answer questions if the Members have any.
Thank you, Minister. Minister, would you like to bring witnesses into the Chamber?
