Charles Dent

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, employees are certainly not targeted for speaking to the investigators from corporate human resources about human resource practices within Justice. In fact, nobody in the Department of Justice has access to those interviews, so there is nobody out there who has any idea of what may have been said. So, no, there would be no targeting of employees for that.

I am pleased to announce today the latest appointment and reappointments to the Status of Women Council of the NWT.

Patricia Lamouelle of Rae-Edzo has been appointed for a term of three years and Lynn Brooks of Yellowknife, Lorayne Menicoche-Moses of Fort Simpson, and Geraldine Sharpe-Staples of Inuvik have been reappointed for terms of three years.

These women will join Betty Tsetso of Deline and Therese Dolly Lafferty of Fort Resolution. I would also like to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of departing board member Natasha McCagg.

I want to take this time to thank all of these...

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Yellowknife South, that Bill 18, An Act to Amend the Territorial Court Act, be read for the second time.

Mr. Speaker, this bill repeals the requirement that territorial court judges and deputy territorial judges cease to hold office at age 65, subject to reappointment. The ultimate requirement that such judges cease to hold office at age 75 is retained.

This bill also repeals provisions that relate to fixed term appointments for deputy territorial judges. Transitional provisions specify that deputy territorial judges whose terms have...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, CTS courses are offered in schools across the Northwest Territories.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Member has a good point and it’s an issue that this government is quite aware of and is working to make sure that we keep in mind whenever we talk about issues like development in the North. In fact, the special joint committee on the pipeline, it’s part of its mandate to provide direction to the government on the negotiation of a SEA, and issues such as this are certainly the sort of thing that we want to see talked about during the negotiation with companies in the socioeconomic agreements. So we will make sure that we keep this sort of thing in...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I know I’ve talked to the college too about the facilities in Tuk and told them about the Member’s interest in seeing those facilities used for training purposes. So I am sure the college is taking a look at whether or not that provides an opportunity. The funding that is part of the Aboriginal Skills Employment Partnership Program will be administered by the committee that has been set up to oversee that sort of funding, but I will make sure that the Education, Culture and Employment representative on the committee keeps the opportunities in mind for...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Labour Standards Act lays out employment standards for non-unionized businesses in the territory. It was first enacted in 1968 and was based on legislation in effect across Canada. It has been amended over the years on a piecemeal basis and now the act is disjointed and at times difficult to interpret.

The Department of Justice has initiated a review of the legislation and later today, at the appropriate time, I will table the document: Renewing the Labour Standards Act of the Northwest Territories: A Consultation Paper.

Mr. Speaker, in this...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Yellowknife South, that Bill 17, Modernization of Benefits and Obligations Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think what I have been saying is that is a natural course of what we are doing. It is something that this government is doing on a continual basis. We are, as social Ministers, working together to make sure that we are formulating the plans that will best serve our constituents. As we develop them, yes, they will be rolled out. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am well aware of the report and have reviewed it myself. Part of the response is to the social framework that this government is working in partnership with other agencies. That issue is discussed regularly at the social Ministers' envelope meetings and it is something that this government is working to bring forward. In terms of what we are doing specifically for oil and gas, it is no different than what we would do in all of our communities. We are working to improve the ability of communities to deal with social problems that are a result of...