Louis Sebert

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mike Reddy, director, legislation division.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Currently in the Northwest Territories there are over 700 structures on land administered by the Government of the Northwest Territories that do not have land tenure. Some of those untenured structures may be associated with an asserted or established Aboriginal or treaty right. Of course, this government respects treaties, and this fall the department is engaging with Indigenous governments and organizations to initiate discussions on respectful and effective ways to identify which of the 700-plus properties, cabins, are rights-based and which are not.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am pleased to be here today to discuss Bill 14, the Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2018.

The purpose of Bill 14 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...

Yes, I would, please.

The first step in this matter is, of course, to determine which of these cabins and camps are rights-based and which are not, because we are not sure at this time. So that is the first step, and then we will be engaging, as we are already, with IGOs with respect to the whole matter of rights-based cabins. Thank you.

The Member opposite has referred several times to an information sheet. I am not sure, as I mentioned earlier, that such a sheet actually exists. Certainly, I would be willing to share additional information with the Member opposite and perhaps could have a conversation later today with respect to what information he actually needs.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following four documents: pursuant to section 32(2) of the Financial Administration Act, I wish to table "Northwest Territories Surface Rights Board 2017-2018 Annual Report" and "Legal Aid Commission of the Northwest Territories Annual Report 2017-2018;" pursuant to section 10(2) of the Victims of Crime Act, I wish to table "29th Annual Report, 2017-2018 - Victims Assistance Committee of the Northwest Territories;" and pursuant to section 74.2(2) of the Residential Tenancies Act, I wish to table "Annual Report on the Activities of the Rental Officer...

I doubt whether the parties involved in those cases regard them as frivolous, but the rental office does offer public education materials. When appropriate, landlords and tenants are encouraged to resolve matters outside the formal application process. However, it has to be said that not all individuals are prepared to be flexible. Many want their day in court. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I suppose in some ways it would have been better if we had had more time, but we didn't. The federal government proceeded. Frankly, we didn't have all that much time. I guess we are fortunate that there is likely to be a slight delay in the legalization from July 1st, which would have really put in a difficult situation if legalization was a month and a day away. Instead, it looks like it is going to be, as I understand it, mid-August, so we have been given a little more time. I suppose it is not enough.

I think the bill is a good compromise and will serve us well in the...

We will continue to monitor the backdate, the backlog in the rental office and, if necessary, will look at adding additional people. I think we want to look at how things go over the next few months. I will get an update of the figures that I have provided to the House. If there appears to be a worsening of the problem, obviously, we would have to look at other alternatives.