Kieron Testart

May I ask a point of clarification of the law clerk?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that Bill 38 be amended by adding the following after subclause 98(2):

(3) The Minister shall give notice of any proposed new or amended regulations to be made under this section to Indigenous governments or organizations in the Northwest Territories and relevant renewable resource boards and land use planning boards or bodies, at least 30 days before those regulations are made, and shall

(a) provide an opportunity for those Indigenous governments or organizations, renewable resource boards, and land use planning boards or bodies to present their views to the...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am proud to support this motion for a second time. I just wanted to clarify, at least, where I am coming from on this. Ministerial discretion is an important feature of all governments, and it is really required for the good function of government as well. That doesn't mean that it can't be guided by very clear criteria.

In this case, when this question was raised by the committee, the Minister's office came back with some very specific examples of where the concerns came out if discretion was completely taken away. As a result, we got a better understanding of where the...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I first want to acknowledge the hard work of the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment and on the part of the sponsoring Minister to collaborate on improvements of the bill. Thirty-four motions were moved that were concurred with by the Minister in the committee review stage and did result in a bill that is now more connected with the co-management regime that exists in the Northwest Territories and has far more public-facing information than the original version of the bill. I think that those are laudable improvements.

I am in an interesting position...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to waive Rule 100(4) and to have Committee Report 19-18(3), Standing Committee on Government Operations Report on the 2017-2018 Public Accounts, moved into Committee of the Whole for consideration tomorrow. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to recognize a resident of the Kam Lake riding, Ms. Claudia Parker, who was also inducted into the Education Hall of Fame today. Thank you for being with us today.

Yes, yes, thank you. Thank you to my colleague who just handed me a piece of paper. Mr. Chair, again, we've had a spirited debate around this. Some comments are based on what correspondence was received by committee members during the committee review, some have been based on concerns raised around this, and some have been based on information that's not represented in this amendment.

I want to address the Minister's comments. The Minister said that we have these arrangements and these agreements, or these relationships in place, and we don't need to legislate those; and yet, we have an...

If I could just ask a point of clarification of our law clerk.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that Bill 38 be amended by adding the following after subclause 98(2):

"(3) The Minister may enter into one or more agreements with Indigenous governments or organizations in the Northwest Territories and with relevant renewable resource boards and land use planning boards or bodies, as to how the Commissioner in Executive Council will engage with those parties in exercising the regulation-making powers under this section."

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Mr. Law clerk, an issue has been raised around "Indigenous governments or organizations." Could you provide a legal definition of that, please, as it relates to the bill? Thank you.