Kieron Testart

Thank you, Mr. Chair. This is a very welcome amendment to the Summary Conviction Procedures Act. The Minister, in his opening comments, mentioned that this amendment is expected to significantly reduce demand for parking ticket matters on Justice of the Peace court and related provision of sheriff services. I can attest to that, as a former deputy sheriff who has spent many long hours waiting for parking ticket matters to be resolved and seeing no one from the general public show up to attend on their trial matters. It is clearly a system that is antiquated. This brings us forward, and it...

Can the Minister release the details of that plan, either publicly or to the appropriate standing committee?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On May 25th, the Minister of Health and Social Services spoke on the GNWT's public education awareness campaign related to cannabis in preparation for legalization and in preparation to us passing our own laws. I don't want to focus on what is obviously being proposed that we will debate at a later day, but on his statement. It seems like there is a lot of work that has been undertaken already on educating people. Could the Minister provide approximate costs of what has been spent on this public campaign and where the resources are coming from? Thank you.

Thank you to the Minister. I'm glad that that contribution is remaining and is consistent on that. The former visitors centre is still in its previous location on our otherwise pristine capital grounds here. Can the Minister advise on what the plan for the old building is? Are we tearing it down, are we going to salvage the structure, and who is going to pay for it at the end of the day?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, visitors centre-related activities here in the City of Yellowknife have been handled by the municipal government, and they have done a great job. They have even gone so far as to reach out to Behchoko and to the Yellowknives Dene to develop a shared tourism product. They are already finding ways not just to offer opportunities here but throughout the Northwest Territories. What they lack is a visitors centre.

I would like to ask the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment how the department is working with the City of Yellowknife to deliver a tourism...

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...

I am not aware of any marriages that have occurred since 2006, at least, of minors in the Northwest Territories. I am just wondering why, again, this is required. It seems like the department has put a lot of thought into putting safeguards around it, but, if no one is using this section of the bill, why does it need to be there?

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.