R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to take a minute to recognize some people who have been here with us for the past six weeks while I've been in the House. All of the interpreters who do the good work of letting the people of the territory know what we're up to. We were lucky enough to be invited to a potluck that they put on today, and it was a wonderful experience. And, of course, I also want to recognize Troy Aikman of the Department of Infrastructure, Mr. Steve Loutitt, one of the -- you know, the hardest working people that I've ever met, one of the most positive. He's a great member of our...

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Kam Lake, that Bill 23, An Act to Amend the Children's Law Act, be read for the second time.

This bill will bring the Northwest Territories Children's Law Act in line with changes to the federal Divorce Act that came into force in 2021. The bill will also allow for the collection, use, and disclosure of information for the purposes of the child support recalculation service and will make an amendment to provide greater flexibility for the judiciary to create broadly applicable rules of court. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And the way that the Minister of Justice influences policing in the Northwest Territories is through resourcing and through the policing priorities that are issued to the RCMP, and so it's probably a bit beyond my ability to increase the police presence in a particular community and a particular part of that community. And that being said, I've had conversations with the RCMP about Yellowknife and about downtown Yellowknife, and so I know they're well aware of the situation. And when the RCMP wants to bring forward requests for new resources, there's a process through...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'll have to take that on notice.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, of course, I'm always here in the House to answer questions, so that's a transparency method that works across government. But the results are going to be -- or sorry, the accountability is going to be in the results. I hope to be able to show this House and show Members that, with the support of the envoy and the entire GNWT, we're actually getting things done. And so I don't have -- you know, I don't have a framework to parse out, you know, what percentage of that success is attributable to this role. But the fact is that, you know, I am here to be held to...

Mr. Speaker, it is my honour to announce the establishment of the Bobbi Hamilton Memorial Award for Outstanding Community Achievement. The Department of Justice is establishing this award to recognize individuals who demonstrate the principles that Bobbi embraced in her daily life.

Bobbi Hamilton was a dedicated and respected community justice coordinator in Hay River for 15 years during which time she worked with hundreds of youths and adults in the community justice program. Sadly, Bobbi passed in November last year. She leaves a legacy of championing restorative justice, helping others, and...

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Yellowknife South, that Bill 22, Legislation Act, be read for the second time.

The proposed Legislation Act sets out comprehensive rules about the processes for enacting, certifying, and publishing laws in the Northwest Territories and for ensuring laws remain up to date. This will consolidate existing provisions about these processes that are found separately in several statutes and will update and modernize current practices. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to present to the House Bill 23, An Act to Amend the Children's Law Act, to be read for the first time. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know we're not supposed to get into hypotheticals here on the floor, so I'll leave that one alone. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It's very complicated. So the legislation that would be required is a Police Act which is the type of legislation that would allow municipalities to set up their own police forces and things like that. So it's not a simple community safety officer piece of legislation; it's much broader.