Kieron Testart

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier today, I spoke about the issue of marriage of minors in the Northwest Territories. I know the department reviewed this legislation in 2017, and I know they do a very thorough job when they do these legislative reviews. Could the Minister of Health and Social Services advise as to why section 16 of the act, which permits marriage of those aged 16, why that wasn't removed? What was the justification at the time to retain that section of the act? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to introduce to the House three pages from my riding of Kam Lake, Mr. Kyle Rogers, Ms. Lydia Taylor, and Ms. Rhuwina Javier. Thank you very much for serving with us today.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. While we are on the subject of this bill, I have received some correspondence from several marriage commissioners in the Northwest Territories who feel that there are sections of the bill that don't speak to the changing regulatory environment they are working in, specifically around marriage fees. Can the Minister confirm if marriage commissioners were consulted on the bill and if their concerns were taken into account when the bill was brought forward to the House? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I did not serve on the standing committee on the review of the bill, and I'm not aware if this section of the act was actually within the scope of the bill that the department was proposing, but I certainly did support the changes that brought the act in line with the federal Civil Marriages Act, and I apologize for going on at length, but, regardless of what happened then, this is still an issue. Is it something the Minister is concerned about, or is this not a problem that is worth addressing? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I want to speak today on a subject that often goes unnoticed but deserves to be addressed immediately, and that is child marriage. It is estimated that each year 15 million girls around the world are married before the age of 18. In September 2013, the South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario released a report that counted 219 confirmed or suspected cases of forced marriage in Ontario and Quebec from 2010 to 2011. These problems are not far away, but very close to home. Marriage laws vary among provinces and territories, with the legal age of marriage generally set at 18. However, in...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that the chair rise and report progress. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Can the Minister responsible for Youth advise on why there have been delays in moving this along? He made a commitment in the last sitting of the House, which was several months ago. What are the factors that have contributed to the delay of developing a policy proposal for establishing a youth council in the Northwest Territories?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I spoke in my statement earlier about the need for a youth advisory council to give young people in the Northwest Territories a voice in the government decision-making and to advise government of policy issues. I have brought this issue before the House before, but today I would like to ask the Premier, as most of these youth councils are creations of First Ministers, if the Premier has made any progress with his government on developing a youth advisory council for the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We begin our legislative sitting on the heels of the Northwest Territories' 16th Youth Parliament.

It was a real honour to serve as a Page for our young leaders, and I am more impressed than ever seeing the next generation of Northerners hard at work in this great Chamber. I was particularly impressed with my counterpart, the youth representative for Kam Lake, Aafreen Khan.

Ms. Khan is a young, bilingual Muslim woman and is the embodiment of what a diverse and progressive NWT will look like in the future. Youth Parliaments are great forums that give the leaders of today...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister asked for suggestions. I mean, I'm not sure I have much more to suggest other than a youth advisory council. You know, Youth Parliament is a model parliament. It's not an advisory body. Youth Corps, all these volunteer activities, they're about engagement and getting people involved. Can the Minister commit to directing his staff to working with the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, which he is, to direct his staff, now that he's got them, in his department to prioritize this work? Because my understanding is there are three full-time people in...