R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm here today to present Bill 94: Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2023.

The purpose of Bill 94 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 the...

Yes, I would.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, of course, legal opinions aren't shared on the floor of the House. But I will say that the territorial archivist, boy, I would feel for them if they were alone. But in addition, there's two senior archivists, two digital record archivists, an archive and library technician, and an audiovisual archivist. Given all that, though, I know they're still quite busy. And that team knows better than anyone that we do need to upgrade our facilities and work on the act because, you know, the things that need to be stored under the act are part of the issue, actually. So this...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I don't want the Member to get ahead of himself. Proposing that a new building be built and having a grand opening are two very different things. So we'll see what happens in the future.

Every year the government proposes a slate of legislation that they would like to see proceed. About half of that legislation actually makes its way through an Assembly and is passed. So I can't speak for previous years, but there's been a number of pieces of legislation and the priorities of the Assembly have dictated what has made its way through and what hasn't. And, unfortunately...

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document: Department of Justice Corrections Service Annual Report 20222023. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Honourable Member for Yellowknife South, that Bill 82, Legal Profession Act, be read for the third time. And, Mr. Speaker, I request a recorded vote. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I didn't get permission but I'm still going to recognize them anyway. I'd like to recognize my mom in the gallery as well as my sister Chelsea and my niece Inaaya. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following two documents: Followup Letter for Oral Question 151019(2): Searching for Frank Gruben; and, Followup Letter for Oral Question 151519(2): Transparency of Corporate Registries. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. To my right, I have Mr. Ian Rennie, legislative counsel with the Department of Justice, and on my left is Mr. Brad Patzer, assistant deputy minister Solicitor General.

Madam Chair, thank you. I am pleased to be here today to present Bill 82, Legal Profession Act.

Bill 82 proposes a repeal and replacement of the current Legal Profession Act, which was passed in 1976 and establishes the Law Society of the Northwest Territories as the body which regulates lawyers in the Northwest Territories. The department has worked in collaboration with the law society to bring forward these amendments and appreciates the time and effort contributed by law society membership both with their initial review of the existing act and with reviewing an engagement draft of the bill...