Seeking Input on Bill 26

MLAs on the Standing Committee on Government Operations want to hear from you as part of their review of Bill 26: An Act to Amend the Public Service Act.

This private Member’s bill put forward by Shauna Morgan, the MLA for Yellowknife North, would allow for a process to authorize and deauthorize a separate bargaining unit for unionized public sector nurses in the NWT registered with the College and Association of Nurses in the NWT and Nunavut (CANNN). Currently, the Public Service Act establishes bargaining units for teachers, employees of the Northwest Territories Power Corporation, and all other employees of the Government of the Northwest Territories. Bill 26 would add nurses to the list of separate bargaining units.

If this bill is adopted by the Assembly and becomes law, it would come into force on November 7, 2025.

A proposal for the Bill prepared by MLA Morgan, the bill’s sponsor, is available here.

Livestreams of previous Committee hearings on this Bill:

• June 19, 2025: MLA Shauna Morgan, sponsor of the Bill, and individual nurses (slideshow presentation here).

Would this Bill affect you? Do you have comments you would like to share with the Committee? Please share your thoughts in writing or request more information by contacting Committees@ntassembly.ca by August 15, 2025.

Seeking Input on Bill 29

MLAs on the Standing Committee on Government Operations want to hear from you as part of their review of Bill 29: First Responders Workers' Compensation Amendment Act.

This private Member’s bill put forward by Kieron Testart, the MLA for Range Lake, would amend the Workers’ Compensation Act to expand the existing presumptive workers’ compensation coverage, which currently covers 14 cancer types and cardiac arrest within 24 hours of attendance at an emergency response, to presumptive coverage of all cancers and heart disease for firefighters. The Bill would also provide new presumptive coverage of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) for all first responders.

If this bill is adopted by the Assembly and becomes law, it would come into force on October 27, 2026.

A backgrounder on the Bill prepared by MLA Testart, the bill’s sponsor, is available here.

Livestreams of previous Committee hearings on this Bill:

• June 19, 2025: MLA Kieron Testart, sponsor of the Bill, and Christian Bittrolff, President, International Association of Fire Fighters Local 2890
• June 19, 2025: Honourable Vince McKay, Minister Responsible for the Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission (WSCC), and Rick Hunt, President and Chief Executive Officer of the WSCC (slideshow presentation here)

Would this Bill affect you? Do you have comments you would like to share with the Committee? Please share your input in writing or request more information by contacting Committees@ntassembly.ca by August 15, 2025.

Seeking Input on the NWT Heritage Fund Act

The Government Operations Committee is conducting a statutory ten-year review of the Northwest Territories Heritage Fund Act (the Act). The Act established the Northwest Territories Heritage Fund, through which a portion of non-renewable resource royalties collected each year are invested in a sovereign wealth fund, to help ensure that future generations benefit from today’s development of non-renewable resources.

The Act does not specify how much should be contributed to the Heritage Fund each year; contributions are approved by the Assembly as part of the annual budget. Since devolution, the GNWT has allocated 25% of its share of resource royalties to the Fund, with the rest earmarked for capital projects and debt repayment.

According to the Act, no funds can be withdrawn from the Heritage Fund before 2033. The Act also imposes limits on the amount that can be withdrawn each year: withdrawals are restricted to the interest generated by the invested contributions, to a maximum of 5% of the Fund’s year-end balance. The Assembly must authorize each withdrawal through legislation, and decisions on how to spend withdrawn funds are approved by the Assembly in the annual budget. Since 2019, the Fund has been managed by CIBC Wood Gundy with the goal of maximizing long-term returns without taking unnecessary risk. The Department of Finance told the Committee in August 2024 that the Fund has seen compounded annual returns of 5.9%. Others have noted that the net return on investment has frequently fallen below the annual rate of inflation. The balance of the Heritage Fund as of March 31, 2024, is $49.7 million.

As part of its review, the Committee can offer recommendations to the Legislative Assembly on whether any amendments to the Act and changes to the Fund should be made. Some of the questions the Committee is studying include:

• Should the Heritage Fund be maintained?
• How much should be contributed to the Fund each year? Should contributions only come from resource royalties, or should other sources of revenue be included? Should these amounts be enshrined in the Act?
• Should the ban on withdrawals from the Fund before 2033 be maintained, or changed?
• Should the limit on withdrawals each year be kept in place, or changed? Should there be guidelines in place on how withdrawals are spent?
• The Fund’s portfolio is primarily composed of safer investments, which generally have a lower rate of return. Should the Fund’s investment strategy change to increase the amount of return generated, even if this strategy is considered a greater risk?
• Currently, the Act can be changed or repealed with the support of a simple majority of MLAs. Should the Act be changed to require a higher threshold of support to make changes or repeal it in the future? If so, what should the threshold be? A previous Committee recommended in 2011 that a special two-thirds majority of MLAs be required to amend the Act.

To inform its work, the Committee is asking NWT residents to share their perspectives on the Act and the Heritage Fund.

Please submit your thoughts in writing or request to speak to Committee at:
📧 Committees@ntassembly.ca 
🗓️ Deadline: October 31, 2025

Please note that submissions received may be cited publicly in the Committee’s published work.

Related Links:

• NWT Heritage Fund Act
• NWT Heritage Fund Regulations
• NWT Heritage Fund financial statements for the 2023-24 fiscal year (pages 140 to 154)
• GNWT Department of Finance, NWT Heritage Fund webpage
• Committee report, October 2024: Initiation of the Ten-Year Review of the NWT Heritage Fund Act
• Previous Committee hearings:
• August 27, 2024: Honourable Caroline Wawzonek, Minister of Finance (livestream here)
• January 9, 2025: Duncan Bonfield and Victoria Barbary, International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds (livestream here)
• January 20, 2025: William L. Megginson, University of Oklahoma (livestream here)
• February 10, 2025: Kevin O’Reilly, Alternatives North (livestream here)
• March 13, 2025: Stephen Thompson and Brittany Jones, Department of Finance and Treasury Board, Government of Alberta (livestream here)
• June 11, 2025: Deven Mitchell, Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation (livestream here)

How to Provide Feedback

• Written Submissions: a letter sent to the Committee containing your thoughts, ideas, perspectives and comments.
  • NOTE: these are considered public documents unless marked as confidential.
• Oral Comments: Speaking with the Committee in person (or virtually) during a Public Hearing.

Contact

To send written submissions, sign up to provide oral comments at a public meeting, or for more information on any Committee business, please email the Committee Clerk at Committees@ntassembly.ca.