Kieron Testart

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, visitors centre-related activities here in the City of Yellowknife have been handled by the municipal government, and they have done a great job. They have even gone so far as to reach out to Behchoko and to the Yellowknives Dene to develop a shared tourism product. They are already finding ways not just to offer opportunities here but throughout the Northwest Territories. What they lack is a visitors centre.

I would like to ask the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment how the department is working with the City of Yellowknife to deliver a tourism...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that the Chair of Committee of the Whole leave the chair and rise to report progress. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister just confirm whether or not that was what the department has already undertaken? I am more interested in the detailed multi-year funding proposal that is in to the federal government. Can the committee or the public see that proposal at this time? Thank you.

I am not aware of any marriages that have occurred since 2006, at least, of minors in the Northwest Territories. I am just wondering why, again, this is required. It seems like the department has put a lot of thought into putting safeguards around it, but, if no one is using this section of the bill, why does it need to be there?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier today, I spoke about the issue of marriage of minors in the Northwest Territories. I know the department reviewed this legislation in 2017, and I know they do a very thorough job when they do these legislative reviews. Could the Minister of Health and Social Services advise as to why section 16 of the act, which permits marriage of those aged 16, why that wasn't removed? What was the justification at the time to retain that section of the act? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to introduce to the House three pages from my riding of Kam Lake, Mr. Kyle Rogers, Ms. Lydia Taylor, and Ms. Rhuwina Javier. Thank you very much for serving with us today.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. While we are on the subject of this bill, I have received some correspondence from several marriage commissioners in the Northwest Territories who feel that there are sections of the bill that don't speak to the changing regulatory environment they are working in, specifically around marriage fees. Can the Minister confirm if marriage commissioners were consulted on the bill and if their concerns were taken into account when the bill was brought forward to the House? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I did not serve on the standing committee on the review of the bill, and I'm not aware if this section of the act was actually within the scope of the bill that the department was proposing, but I certainly did support the changes that brought the act in line with the federal Civil Marriages Act, and I apologize for going on at length, but, regardless of what happened then, this is still an issue. Is it something the Minister is concerned about, or is this not a problem that is worth addressing? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I want to speak today on a subject that often goes unnoticed but deserves to be addressed immediately, and that is child marriage. It is estimated that each year 15 million girls around the world are married before the age of 18. In September 2013, the South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario released a report that counted 219 confirmed or suspected cases of forced marriage in Ontario and Quebec from 2010 to 2011. These problems are not far away, but very close to home. Marriage laws vary among provinces and territories, with the legal age of marriage generally set at 18. However, in...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that the chair rise and report progress. Thank you, Mr. Chair.