R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And the unit, it's not fully staffed up yet, but the staff members that they have have been pouring over all of these documents that the Member's referencing. A lot of work has been done. There's work that's been done 20 years ago that the staff are looking at. So we are really taking an approach that we don't need to start from scratch; a lot of work has been done. And even if there's, you know, letters from the medical association or things like that, those also offer insight into what issues we might want to focus on, so those documents are definitely being looked at...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Yellowknife courthouse was built in 1977 and 1978, and the existing washrooms on floors 2 to 6 are original to the building. These washrooms have a 90-degree enclosed vestibule entry with doors on each side of the vestibule. Obviously, this is not an accessible washroom, and upgrades are required to ensure that all residents are able to use these facilities. Thank you.

Yes, Mr. Chair, I do. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to recognize the 8th Premier of the Northwest Territories, Mr. Stephen Kakfwi, who was in the gallery today; I'm not sure if he still is. In addition to being Premier, he served as a Cabinet -- survived as a Cabinet Minister for 16 years. I'd also like to welcome Kyla Kakfwi-Scott, the deputy secretary in the Premier's office and her daughter Sadeya. I'm happy to welcome all three generations. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So I'll speak a bit to my experience in my previous role. You know, I was generally given a slate of options for capital projects and some of those include accessibility options, and so as Minister I would move forward with those that I personally prioritized those. In this instance here, these repairs -- or sorry, these renovations are resulting from a human rights adjudication panel decision about the accessibilities of the washrooms. And, you know, that's why we have the human rights adjudication panel so that when there are issues like this identified, they can be...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. With me on my left is Charlene Doolittle, the deputy minister of the Department of Justice. And on my right is James Bancroft, the director of corporate services with the Department of Justice. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Tuesday, October 29th, 2024, I will present Bill 12, Business Day Statute Law Amendment Act, to be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Hay River South, that Bill 7, Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2024, be read for the third time. And, Mr. Speaker, I requested a recorded vote. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, we're a little early in the process to start giving direction on how to proceed. I want to see those jurisdictional scans, I want to see the research that is done, and then we can figure out how to move forward. But to the Member's point, I do want to ensure that this -- there's differences between a small community perhaps with no RCMP and somewhere like Yellowknife. And so it's going to -- you know, it won't be easy to find that balance, but I'm confident that we can do that. So the Member can rest assured that we will be taking into consideration the needs of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I believe it was 2007 is when this was first brought forward, and in the interim period the department hasn't done a lot of work looking at SCAN. A lot of work was done back then and so there's a bit of a base that we can start from but as with anything, a lot changes in 16, 17, 18 years. So there's still a lot of work to be done but it will be informed by other pieces of legislation from around the country that have been operating for an additional, you know, 15, 16 years since then as well as court challenges that have been brought against those pieces of...