R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the spirit of consensus government, Cabinet has taken the approach that we are not going to stand in the way of bills presented by Members at second reading. We're not endorsing the bill but we're not standing in the way of it either. So for those reasons, we will be abstaining from this vote. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, three years ago I was mandated to initiate a review of our government's Student Financial Assistance Program with the goal of improving access to postsecondary education for all Northwest Territories residents by reducing barriers and ensuring benefit levels are meeting the needs of students. I am happy to say that we have completed our review and are now taking steps towards implementing necessary, significant changes to the program to better meet the needs of students.

The review examined the Student Financial Assistance Program's alignment with the Truth and Reconciliation...

With me today, I have Ian Rennie, legislative counsel with the Department of Justice; and, Paul McKenna, legal counsel with the Department of Justice. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I am here today to present Bill 79, An Act to Amend the Judicature Act.

The purpose of Bill 79 is to bring the Northwest Territories into compliance with the Canadian Free Trade Agreement; and, to make unrelated improvements to the functioning of the Court of Appeal.

The Canadian Free Trade Agreement is an intergovernmental agreement between the Canadian provinces and territories which has replaced the former Agreement on Internal Trade. The Government of the Northwest Territories signed the new agreement in April 2017 and is now obligated to make changes to our...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So by linking the number of years of schooling to the remissible loan program, I'm not sure if that is necessarily a retention tool because you have to go to school first before you get the SFA. The remissible loan actually is remissible if you move back to the territory. So a resident, and I know some people who moved here when they were 17, 18 so they didn't actually do school here, but now they have families here. But, you know, they've made comments that I would have liked to have been able to access some sort of student financial assistance. So this is an...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So actually you can apply for SFA online. That is an advancement that has happened in the past few years. I think what the Member is referencing is that there is one form, the student enrolment form that needs to be filled out by the school, and so that is still a paper form. However, we have been and in terms of the ability to check your loan balances online, we don't have that; we are working with the Department of Finance to see if there is a way to make this happen. But I'll say that, you know, we don't have the IT infrastructure that you might see in some other...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier today I did a Minister's statement on the Independent Legal Advice and Representation Program, and so I'd like to recognize some representatives from the WYCA here today. We have Hawa DumbuyaSesay, the executive director of the WYCA; Nomazulu Khumalo, the organizational development manager; and, Farah Rajan, the independent legal advice and representation coordinator. So we're happy to have our partners in the gallery with us today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yes, I would.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following four documents: Government of the Northwest Territories Response to Committee Report 4319(2): Report on the Review of Bill 63, An Act to Amend the Official Languages Act; Government of the Northwest Territories Response to Committee Report 4819(2): Report on the Review of Bill 68, An Act to Amend the Child Day Care Act; Government of the Northwest Territories Response to Committee Report 4919(2): Report on the 20212022 Review of the Official Languages Act; and, the Government of the Northwest Territories Response to Motion 7519(2), Maximum Allowable...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That's a long list of things to include. So I can say yes, I will commit to annual reporting and I will commit to seeing how many of those items that we can actually get on the list. But I think it's a great idea, and I'm happy to action the Member's request. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.