Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to waive Rule 8.2(7) and have Bill 42 deemed ready for third reading. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I now call the Committee of the Whole to order. What is the wish of the committee? I will go to the Member from Inuvik Boot Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, committee wishes to consider Bill 33, Technical Safety Statutes Amendment Act; Bill 35, Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act 2026; and, Tabled Document 448-20(1), 2026-2027 Main Estimates, Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you. Committee, we have agreed to consider Bill 33, Technical Safety Statute Amendment Act. I will ask the Minister of Infrastructure to introduce the bill.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am here to present Bill 33, Technical Safety Statutes Amendment Act. Bill 33 updates and replaces the current Elevators and Lifts Act with the new framework called the Technical Safety Act, or TSA. The bill will cover elevators and lifts, boilers, and pressure vessels, electrical systems, and gas safety under one Act. These areas will be phased in through regulations over the next three years to four years. The bill will address the need for common rules across technical safety fields, allowing for future modernization of outdated legislation while strengthening public safety requirements. The bill will combine licensing, permitting, registration, inspection, and appeal systems into one unified framework. This will eliminate gaps and duplications while modernizing and aligning the NWT's electrical mechanical legislation along with other jurisdictions.
The Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment conducted a clause-by-clause review of Bill 33 on February 10th. We heard no concerns with the bill, and I would like to thank the committee for their time in review.
That concludes my opening remarks, and I am prepared to answer any questions that committee may have. Thank you.
Thank you. Would the Minister like to bring witnesses into the chamber?
Thank you. Does committee agree? Sergeant-at-Arms, please escort the witness into the chamber. Thank you. Would the Minister introduce the witnesses.
Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chair. So to my right, I have got Jacques Roberge, senior legislative advisor. And to my left, Mitchell Roland, director, compliance and licensing.
Okay, thank you. I will now turn to the chair of the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment, the committee that reviewed the bill, for any opening comments on Bill 33.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Bill 33, Technical Safety Statutes Amendment Act, received second reading in the Legislative Assembly on October 30, 2025, and was referred to the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment for its thorough review.
Mr. Chairman, on February 10th, 2026, the standing committee held a public hearing with the Minister of Infrastructure and completed its clause-by-clause review of the bill. The committee received no submissions on the bill from the public or thereabouts.
Mr. Chairman, in closing, I want to thank the committee members for their robust and detailed efforts in reviewing this legislation. And individual Members may have their individual comments at this time but that summarizes committee's perspective. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Okay, thank you. I will now open the floor to general comments on Bill 33. Any Members? Is the committee agreed that there are no further general comments? Sorry, you're agreeing?
Agreed.
Okay, thank you. Can we proceed to clause-by-clause review of the bill? Committee, we will defer the bill number and title until consideration of the clause. I will call the clause in the groups of 10.
Please turn to page 1 of the bill. Clauses 1 to 10, does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you. Clause 11 to 20, does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you. Clause 21 to 30, does committee agree? Thank you.
Agreed.
Clause 31 to 40, does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you. Clauses 41 to 50, does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you. Clauses 51 to 60, does committee agree?
Agreed.
Clauses 61 to 70, does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you. Clause 71 to 80, does committee agree?
Agreed.
Clauses 81 to 89, does committee agree?
Agreed.
Bill 33, Technical Safety Statute Amendment Act, does the committee agree?
Agreed.
To the bill as a whole, does committee agree?
Agreed.
Does the committee agree that Bill 33, Technical Safety Statute Amendment Act is now ready for third reading? Committee?
Agreed.
Okay, thank you. Does committee agree that this concludes our consideration of Bill 33, Technical Safety Statute Amendment Act? Committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you. Minister -- I am going to go to the Member from Yellowknife Centre.
Yeah, thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I think for those that do pay attention to this, they should -- just wanted to provide a quick comment. Although it was -- in my view, it wasn't quite mentioned by the Minister -- it was in some ways, but it's just a molding of multiple Acts, problems together, and it's not a technical change in the context of anything really -- changes in the system. And hence, this is just a bringing it together in a consistent form. So in other words, not -- even though technically Bill 33 is a new law but there's no new law or new grounds being broken, and I think that's probably a narrative that's missing from the conversation we're having here today. So there's no questions but the point is I just want to make sure that the public knows that it's just bringing together two pieces, separate pieces, into one. That's all. Thank you.
Okay, thank you. If there are no further questions, I want to say thank you to the Minister and thank you to your witnesses. Sergeant-at-Arms, please escort the witnesses from the chamber.
Okay. Committee, we have agreed to consider Bill 35, Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2026. I will ask the Minister of Justice to introduce the bill.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I am pleased to be here today to discuss Bill 35, the Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2026. The purpose of Bill 35 is to amend various statutes of the Northwest Territories for which minor changes are proposed or errors or inconsistencies have been identified and to repeal the temporary variation of of statutory time periods, COVID-19 Pandemic Measures Act, which was put in place as a temporary measure during the COVID-19 pandemic and is no longer necessary. 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;
It must not create a new offence or subject a new class of person to an existing offence.
The Department of Justice routinely brings forward Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Acts which make changes to various statutes that require minor amendments or where errors or inconsistencies have been identified. The department responsible for the statutes for which provisions are included in the bill have reviewed and approved the applicable provisions.
This concludes my opening remarks, and I would be pleased to answer any questions that Members have regarding Bill 35. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. Minister, would you like to bring witnesses into the chambers?
Yes, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Does committee agree? Thank you. Sergeant-at-Arms, please escort the witnesses into the chambers.
Minister, please introduce your witnesses.
Thank you Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, today I have with me Laura Jeffery, legislative counsel, Department of Justice. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
