Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that subclause 3(5) of Bill 48 be amended:
By deleting the "or" at the end of the English version of paragraph A;
By deleting the period at the end of paragraph B and substituting "or"; and,.
By adding the following after paragraph B, "C. An arbitration under the Public Service Act or the Education Act."
Thank you.
Thank you. The motion is on the floor and being distributed. The motion is in order. To the motion. Minister of Justice.
Thank you, Madam Chair. This motion is part of a package of motions that will deal with the application of arbitration legislation to the Public Service Act and Education Act.
Upon review of the bill, the Union of Northern Workers advised the department that they were concerned with the application of the proposed new Act, notably, that Bill 48 is primarily geared towards commercial and other arbitrations, not labour arbitrations. The Department of Justice has developed these motions to address these concerns. The department is proposing to exclude the application of the new Arbitration Act to labour arbitrations that are conducted under the collective agreements contemplated in the Public Service Act. This includes arbitrations conducted by the Union of Northern Workers and the Northwest Territories Teachers' Association.
If passed, Bill 48 would come into force but the current Act would also remain in force for the limited purpose of dealing with arbitrations conducted under collective agreements under the Public Service Act.
The Department of Finance intends to pursue updates to the Public Service Act which will, among other things, speak to labour arbitrations. The current Arbitration Act will be completely repealed once a new Public Service Act is advanced with its arbitration provisions therein. To avoid any confusion in the interim, the current Act will also be renamed to Arbitration Act 1988.
The department has reached out to the UNW and the Northwest Territories Teachers Association on this approach, neither of which have any objections. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? All those abstaining? Motion is carried.
Carried
Clause 3 as amended, does committee agree?
---Clauses 3 through 73 inclusive approved
Minister of Justice.
