Julian Morse

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, Bill 18: An Act to Amend the Partnership and Business Names Act, received second reading in the Legislative Assembly on February 10th, 2025, and was referred to the Standing Committee on Government Operations for review. On April 22nd, 2025, a very busy day for committee, the standing committee held a public hearing with the Minister of Justice and completed its clause-by-clause review of the bill.

I thank the committee for their efforts in reviewing this legislation and, of course, individual Members may have additional comments. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I appreciate the Minister emphasizing the nature of the process, that it's a collaborative one. I would respectfully suggest back that they collaboratively come together and develop a timeline. So can the Minister commit to bringing a timeline back to the Assembly in a reasonable time? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm just referring back to my recurring question that I bring up every session on the amendment -- targeted amendments to the waters regs. Mr. Speaker, the last time I asked the Minister of Environment and Climate Change about that, he mentioned that he would have a concrete plan available for Members in the spring. I'm just asking the Minister for an update on that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I appreciate that answer from the Minister. Certainly, I'm fine with doing work with the staff that we've got. But what I would emphasize is that it seems that there is a need for a one-stop shop of sorts, a coordinating, centralized agency that could help to coordinate the process of connecting projects with workers and vice versa. And so that currently doesn't exist, so can the Minister look at developing perhaps a program or something that would serve that kind of role within the department. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as the House is aware, I spoke to workforce development and, specifically, coordination earlier today. Mr. Speaker, has the Minister or department of ITI considered the growing need for workforce coordination and what the government could do to address this issue? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And what I'm looking for is maybe some more detail about those conversations. So would the Minister specifically consider establishing a division or agency within one of those departments specifically tasked with this role as a part of our work to address workforce development? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when it comes to workforce development, we have had some success in the NWT with individual companies developing a project-specific workforce through training and development programs. This has worked well for long-term projects like mines which have lifespans of a decade or more; however, our economy is increasingly shifting towards more project-based employment for which this kind of workforce development model does not work as well. Projects are more time limited, sometimes involve seasonal work, and are spread across the territory. Any individual...

Thank you, and I appreciate your indulgence, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, I think the Minister has highlighted exactly the problem that I'm trying to raise today, and that is that we do not have a regulated counsellor and psychotherapist under the Health and Social Services Professions Act. Will the Minister commit to investigating the potential for regulation of counsellors and psychotherapists and report back to the Assembly? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, just following up on that response, I heard a "should" but that doesn't sound like a requirement to me. So can -- first of all, can the Minister just clarify for the House about that; is that a requirement or is it simply a recommendation? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the NWT, a number of health care professions are regulated under the Health and Social Services Professions Act. Psychologists were regulated under this act in 2022 for example. Meanwhile, counselling and psychotherapy are not yet a regulated profession in the NWT, and I have been approached by practitioners with concerns about the lack of a regulatory body to these professions here.

Anyone in the NWT can currently offer counselling or psychotherapy services without any formal education or training as long as they are not claiming to be a psychologist or...