Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this committee recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories immediately begin developing comprehensive animal protection legislation for introduction early in the life of the 17th Assembly. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. A motion is on the floor. The motion is being distributed. To the motion. Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Briefly, I’ve got this motion here today. Throughout our public hearing process and through comments through e-mails and phone calls that I’ve received on the proposed amendments to Bill 16, overwhelmingly people are saying across the Northwest Territories that it’s time the government move forward with comprehensive animal protection legislation.
My personal belief is it’s long overdue. The amendments to the Dog Act are long overdue. It’s a step in the right direction, but what we’ve heard is the society is not accepting of cruelty to animals in any way, shape or form, and this government has got to take action to protect animals of all variety in our Territory. Again, I don’t think we have to look too far to find a piece of legislation that might work or help us out in getting legislation here, and that’s in the Yukon. Mr. Menicoche talked about some high-profile incidents here in the Northwest Territories in the last number of years that have caused us a great deal of embarrassment on the national and international stage when it comes to abuse of dogs and animals in our Territory. We certainly need to get with the times.
The reality is it’s just not acceptable anymore to be abusing animals and we have got to move forward with this legislation. I know it’s late days in the life of this government but this has got to be part of the transition plan for the next government and has to be introduced early in the life of the 17th Assembly. With that, Mr. Chairman, I certainly look forward to hearing any other comments on this from other Members. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. To the motion. Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I’d like to thank my colleague, Mr. Ramsay, for bringing this forward. It’s been a disappointment that we haven’t got to this. Early indications from the Ministers involved were that this would be coming forward. They later backed off on that. Apparently we have some limitations in our ability to draft legislation quickly and we certainly do have a lot of legislative needs. I can understand that, but I was, and I know many of our public were, disappointed that those early indications of commitments were not able to be met.
I think this does capture the comments we heard during our public consultations. We were not seeking consultations on the animal protection legislation but in my experience the majority of people speaking did mention that the Dog Act improvements were a good start but they definitely wanted to see comprehensive animal protection legislation. This is a step towards that and I think we want to be sure and follow up with this and make sure it’s profiled to the 17th Assembly as called for in this motion. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called.
---Carried
Are there any more comments on Committee Report 7-16(5)? Is committee agreed that we have concluded consideration of Committee Report 7-16(5)?
Agreed.
Is committee agreed that we move along to our second item, Bill 16, An Act to Amend the Dog Act?
Agreed.
We’ve agreed to consider Bill 16, An Act to Amend the Dog Act. I will now ask the Minister responsible for the bill, the honourable Minister responsible for MACA, Minister R.C. McLeod, to introduce the bill.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I am here to present Bill 16, An Act to Amend the Dog Act.
In the past several years there have been a series of well-reported incidents about the abuse of dogs. These incidents fall far outside the traditional ways of managing dogs and dog teams. The abuses are also against modern standards of care.
The amendments we are seeking are measured responses that take into account the experiences of other jurisdictions as well as a unique northern approach to make legal solutions for the kind of dog abuse problems we are facing.
Further amendments proposed, as a result of public consultations and after consideration by the standing committee, are improvements to the department’s proposed amendments and help to clarify aspects that were not clear.
Both the department and the standing committee have heard from many groups and individuals during the development of this bill, and we appreciate the time and effort that has been taken to provide us with comments and feedback.
To date, all of the complaints about animal abuse that we know of deal with dogs. Through lessons learned and from the amended Dog Act, the government can decide later if broader animal welfare legislation is needed.
I look forward to hearing comments from the Members and answering any questions. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you, Minister McLeod. I’d now like to ask the chairperson for the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Infrastructure, which reviewed this bill, to make the comments. Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I’ve covered a lot of ground on my comments already, but again, I think it was a challenge for the committee to come to some consensus on what the amendment should be. At the end of the day, there was a lot of debate and discussion about what they should be. My feeling is there probably still is and there always will be, but that’s the nature of what we do. Fortunately, Mr. Chairman, we live in a society and a place where we can get out and listen to the public and take what we hear and try to put that into place in legislation that’s being proposed. The public hearing process allows us to do that, and it’s the committee’s duty to take what they hear from the public and utilize that information in the legislation that we have.
Again, I want to thank everybody that was involved in the amendments to Bill 16, and again thank the Minister and his staff for the work they did and the committee members for their work both in committee meetings and at public hearings and as well as our staff that I pointed out earlier, Ms. Knowlan, Ms. Tumchewics, Ms. Langlois and Ms. MacPherson. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. I will now go to the Minister responsible for the bill and see if he would like to bring witnesses into the House. Minister McLeod.
Yes, I would, Mr. Chairman.
Is committee agreed that we allow the witnesses into the House?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. Sergeant-at-Arms, if I can please get you to bring the witnesses into the House.
Thank you. Minister McLeod, can I please get you to introduce your witnesses for the record?
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have with me today Mr. Mike Aumond, deputy minister of Municipal and Community Affairs; Laura Gareau is the director of corporate affairs at MACA; also we have with us today Ms. Kelly McLaughlin, legislative counsel, Department of Justice. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister McLeod. On that, I will open the floor to general comments on Bill 16. Detail? Is committee agreed that there are no comments on Bill 16?
Agreed.
Can we now proceed with the clause-by-clause review of the bill?
Agreed.
We will defer the title and the bill number and we will begin our clause by clause. Clause 1.
---Clauses 1 through 3 inclusive approved
Clause 4. Ms. Bisaro.
