R.J. Simpson

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, that Bill 57, Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2022, be read for the third time. And, Mr. Speaker, I request a recorded vote. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, three years ago I was given a mandate to initiate a review of the income assistance program to ensure its objectives, benefits, and delivery support the social and economic aspirations of the people of the NWT. Since then, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment has put in a considerable amount of time and effort into fulfilling this mandate. Based on the findings of the review, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment is now in the process of finalizing the most significant changes to the income assistance program in a generation. These changes are...

Thank you. So every time we speak to the federal government, we talk about the cost of infrastructure in the Northwest Territories. I think that we're all aware of the cost but when we speak to federal officials and politicians, it's clear that they're often taken aback by the cost. So we do our best at the officials level, at the political level, to hammer home, you know, the reality of the cost in the North and the changes we've seen over the past few years. We've seen costs double, triple, and even more than that. So we are working with the feds on this. We are doing our best to look at...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And this is one avenue that organizations can pursue to get new child care infrastructure or assist with that. Indigenous governments also have their own child care agreements with the federal government and so there could be funds through there. The early childhood infrastructure fund is proposalbased and so "proposals" very widely in terms of what they're proposing, the cost of what they're proposing. But what the fund is intended to do is support more spaces. So adding spaces to existing programs or creating new spaces.

We looked at communities where there is...

Thank you. With me, I have Christina Duffy, director of legislation division with the Department of Justice. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am here today to present Bill 57, Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2022.

The purpose of Bill 57 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...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Well, since the last time the Member asked this, I did add another holiday. It's not the holiday he was looking for though. So there will not be a statutory holiday on February 21st. The Member is well aware that that takes legislative change and that is not in the works. So it won't be happening this year. However, as I stated last year, this is the year that we are going to look at the Employment Standards Act and see what changes need to be made. So there will be engagement on the act including the potential establishment of a holiday in February. So the department...

Madam Speaker, the reason you see so much pink around the House today is because today we are acknowledging Pink Shirt Day, a day to reflect on how we treat one another.

Two brave teenagers in Nova Scotia sparked Pink Shirt Day 15 years ago after a male student in their school was harassed for wearing a pink shirt. The next morning, David Shepherd and Travis Price handed out pink shirts to all the male students. Now, Pink Shirt Day is a calltoaction for schools, communities, and workplaces to wear pink in solidarity against bullying.

Pink Shirt Day will be held nationally next week on February...

Yes, I would.

Madam Speaker, I wish to table the following document: Government of the Northwest Territories Response to Committee Report 3419(2): Report on the Review of the 20202021 Annual Report of the Ombud. Thank you, Madam Speaker.