Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned previously, that NIHB is done differently in every region and what I -- what I mean differently is that even in Nunatsiavut, they have drawn down -- with their Indigenous government has drawn down the -- to implement the NIHB -- administer the administration. So even in -- and I raised this even with Newfoundland health Minister that they don't even deal with it because it's dealt with their Indigenous government. So every jurisdiction is different. BC has a First Nation health, and that's who administers, and so if you're Inuit in BC, you have to go through another jurisdiction because they don't -- you know, so there's so much complexity because it's a federal program that it relies on people having to just access it through the federal jurisdiction in Ottawa, or they can -- if their province or territory has drawn it down, that they access it through their province first.
So when our residents leave the Northwest Territories, you know, we administer it, so we take care of all of the stuff in the background. When they leave the territory, they have to do all of the coordinating themselves because we don't coordinate with that. So I can flag that for the Minister of ISC as to how it's being done across Canada and how it impacts our residents when I do get a chance to meet with them. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Given that, you know, we know every jurisdiction is different and doing business a different way and a new way is different too. So will the Minister consider this looking at doing it a little different, being the voice for the North, and creating something different that might work for the residents of the Northwest Territories? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I'm not wanting to paraphrase but I've heard from enough people through -- since being the Minister that one of the issues is people do leave. Some people -- you know, maybe they don't -- they can't afford or they don't know and they don't get the travel insurance, and they get sick. I can raise this with the Minister of Indigenous Service Canada who this program falls under, but as of the Northwest Territories, this program is funded by them so we administer what we negotiate with them, so I can add this as something that could be looked at, but I can't commit that this would be something that they would do at this time. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Oral questions. Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yesterday was a very long day for everybody, and especially myself and, Mr. Speaker, I have a question for the Justice Minister.
Will the Minister of Justice be brought up to speed and to look into the long decade of investigations into the death that occurred at St. Joseph's School in Fort Resolution and to go forward under the Coroner's Act and allow the coroner's office to support the Deninu Kue First Nation in their investigation? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. Minister of Justice.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for the question. You know, I know this is a very sensitive subject and, you know, the discovery of unmarked graves of former residential students is a deeply sensitive issue that we must approach with respect, dignity, empathy for the Indigenous communities involved and the families. You know, this is an area where, as an Indigenous person, my mother was a residential school survivor, I feel very deeply about this subject, and I am committed to working with everyone involved -- the community, the Member, the department of education, the coroner's office -- to have a conversation about how we can advance this issue and find a resolution that meets the needs of all of the people of the Northwest Territories, the Indigenous governments, the families. Really, the families too, right. That's an important component here that we need to really keep top of mind. We have elders that are here interpreting for us that have generational connections to this issue, and we need to truly respect that within this House. But I will commit to working with the Member and all of the parties involved to work toward a resolution for this issue. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question to the Minister of Justice is that we're going to be here until next week, and we're pretty well done, but my question to the Minister is that if there's a way we could start working and reaching out to the Indigenous governments in Fort Resolution and the families and work together to see if we could try and come up with a date as to when we could meet and try to look for a solution to this issue. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm totally committed to that. I have an open calendar this afternoon. I'd already scheduled a briefing on this topic with staff from the Department of Justice and ECC to get totally up to speed. I'm happy to put some time aside in my calendar this afternoon to meet with the Member and any of his leadership that are interested in having that meeting. And, again, I'll reiterate that I'm committed to working together with everyone that has an interest here in finding an expedited solution to advancing this issue. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Justice. Final supplementary. Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And my question to the Minister now that we're moving forward, we really need to modernize our legislation to fall in line with the UNDRIP and -- that's very important, and all their legislation that's out there. So I look forward, if we could get a commitment from the Minister to get this looked at in the next few months. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think the Premier has made it very clear in all of our mandate letters that that is certainly a priority and part of how we plan on doing business as a Premier and Cabinet to ensure that we are respecting all of those decisions and applying the appropriate measures. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Justice. Colleagues, time is up for oral questions. Oral questions. Written questions. Returns to written questions.
Member from Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to the House to return to oral questions, item number 7 on the orders of the day. Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife Centre -- can I please finish my job? Are there any nays? Nay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following two documents: Supplementary Estimates, Infrastructures Expenditures, No. 1, 2025-2026 and Supplementary Estimates, Operations Expenditures and Borrowing Authorization, No. 1, 2025-2026. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Finance. Tabling of documents.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Tuesday, May 27th, 2025, I will move the following motion:
Now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Yellowknife South, that this Legislative Assembly direct the Standing Committee on Procedure and Privileges to consider if the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly Member's Code of Conduct requires any amendments or updates regarding statements made online by Members of the Legislative Assembly outside of our proceedings;
And further, that the Standing Committee on Procedure and Privileges deliver a report to this House on the matter by February 2026.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Tuesday, May 27th, 2025, I will present Bill 27, An Act to Amend the Protection Against Family Violence Act, to be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to present Bill 26, An Act to Amend the Public Service Act, to be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife North. Pursuant to Rule 8.2(3), Bill 26 is deemed to have first reading and is ready for second reading.
I will now call Committee of the Whole to order. What is the wish of committee? I'm going to go to the Member from Inuvik Boot Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the committee wishes to consider Bill 17, a Municipal and Community Affairs Statutes Amendment Act, as well as Bill 18, An Act to Amend the Partnership and Business Names Act. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Does the committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you. We'll take a short break. Thank you.
---SHORT RECESS
I am going to call committee back to order. Consideration in Committee of the Whole of bills and other matters, Bill 17, Municipal and Community Affairs Statutes Amendment Act. Committee, we have agreed to consider Bill 17, Municipal and Community Affairs Statutes Amendment Act. I will ask the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs to introduce the bill.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm pleased to present Bill 17, Municipal and Community Affairs Statutes Amendment Act.
Bill 17 amends three Acts: The Fire Prevention Act, the NWT 9-1-1 Act, and the Western Canada Lottery Act. The purpose of the bill is to adjust the reporting timelines required under the three Acts to provide sufficient time for MACA to collect and the data from various sources to ensure accurate and comprehensive reporting.
This Bill amends the Fire Prevention Act reporting period for the fire marshal's report to the Minister to reflect the fiscal year and to have the report due to the Minister in September. Making these changes will provide the Office of the Fire Marshal more time to collect and validate the data from community governments.
Additionally, this bill amends the NWT 9-1-1 Act and the Western Canada Lottery Acts to require each act's annual report to be tabled in the Legislative Assembly within 180 days of the end of the fiscal year. The amendments also allow the reports to be tabled during the next sitting of the Legislative Assembly if the Legislative Assembly is not sitting on the expiry of the period.
So these changes reflect the operational realities we face while maintaining our commitment to transparency to the public. By aligning our reporting timelines with the practicalities of the data collecting and validation, we ensure that our reports are both accurate and comprehensive.
I look forward to hearing comments from the Members and answering any questions they may have. Thank you.
Thank you. Minister, would you like to bring witnesses into the chamber?
Yes, please.
Sergeant-at-arms, please escort the witnesses into the chamber.
Minister, please introduce your witnesses.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. With me, I have Catherine Boyd, director of corporate services. And Ryan Semak, senior legislation advisor.
Thank you. I will now turn to the chair of the Standing Committee on Government Operations, the committee that reviewed the bill for any opening comments on Bill 17. Mr. Morse.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, Bill 17, the Municipal and Community Affairs Statutes Amendment Act, received second reading in the Legislative Assembly on February 10, 2025, and was referred to the Standing Committee on Government Operations for review.
On April 22nd, 2025, the standing committee held a public hearing with the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs and completed its clause-by-clause review of the bill. I thank the committee for their efforts in reviewing this legislation. Individual Members, of course, may have additional comments. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'd like to thank the Member from Frame Lake. I will now open the floor to general comments. Is there any general comments?
Okay, seeing none. Does the committee agree that there are no further general comments? Agreed?
Agreed.
