Wendy Bisaro

Thank you, Minister Abernethy. I will now open the floor for general comments on Bill 2, Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act. Any opening comments, committee? Does committee agree to go to detail?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Your committee has been considering Bill 2, Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2012, and Bill 7, An Act to Amend the Securities Act, and would like to report progress and that Bills 2 and 8 are ready for third reading. Mr. Speaker, I move that the report of Committee of the Whole be concurred with. Thank you.

Does committee agree to bring witnesses into the House?

Thank you, committee. Bill 8 is now deemed ready for third reading. Thank you to the Minister, thank you to your witnesses. Sergeant-at-Arms, please escort the witnesses from the Chamber. What is the wish of committee? Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you, Minister Abernethy. I would now like to go to the chairperson of the Standing Committee on Social Programs, the committee which reviewed this bill, to make comments. Mr. Moses.

Thank you. Okay, committee, we’ll return to page 1, Bill 8, An Act to Amend the Securities Act. Bill as a whole.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, I’m a little confused. From what the Minister just told me, it sounds as though there is a plan, although I don’t think that I necessarily agree with it. If, as the Minister says, we’re going to go to Hay River and then we’re going to go to the Beaufort-Delta – and you mentioned another number of $1.8 million that I don’t know for what – if we know that already, why can we not get that before committee now? Why can we not take what we know and plan for implementation in 2013-2014?

Thank you, Minister Abernethy. Committee, are there any general comments in regard to Bill 8? Is committee agreed we go to detail?

I appreciate the Minister’s response that there’s some money being allocated. It has been allocated, as he’s said though, in 2013-2014. In my mind, that’s a problem. I don’t understand why, with the report that came out some four or five months ago now, we couldn’t start some planning in this budget year, 2012-2013, to do some implementation in 2013-2014. I’d ask the Minister to tell me why we can’t do planning this year for implementation in the next budget year.

Is committee agreed to bring witnesses into the House?