Vince McKay

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following three documents: Physical Activity Sport and Recreation Fund Annual Report 2024-2025; Plain Language Summary for Bill 33: Technical Safety Statutes Amendment Act; and, Statement of Consistency for Bill 33: Technical Safety Statutes Amendment Act. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If he's speaking about the capital plan for the airport, there's currently work underway with engagement with the public on planning for developments around the airport. However, there's other engagements that are involved in the planning, so there's DND obviously, but also public engagement that's happening right now. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to present to the House Bill 33, Technical Safety Statutes Amendment Act, to be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Sorry, Mr. Speaker, I was just looking up the toll free number to the fire marshal's office here.

First off, I think it would have to be reported so that officials know where these issues are. So if the residents are concerned about health or safety issues, especially related to a municipality, I would say they'd have to contact their local bylaw enforcement and then, at that point, other issues may arise that they could address with the other officials, like the fire marshal's office. So if there is any concerns, it would be good to allow the authorities to be notified. Thank you, Mr...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Dog Act currently governs the treatment, control, and the protection of dogs in the NWT. It includes provisions related to the care of dogs and penalties for neglect or mistreatment. The Act does not apply to other animals such as cats or kittens. It also does not address the licensing of breeders and therefore does not provide the authority to regulate, prohibit the sales of kittens or puppies. To regulate the sale of animals or introduce breeder licensing, new legislation would need to be deployed. This is a resource-insensitive process that would involve policy...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Appreciate the Member killing some time for me there. I would have to say that, you know -- I mean, the fire marshal's office has to get notified that this is going on. If there's a concern -- and obviously he's addressing it here -- I will notify the fire marshal's office. If the Member wants to give me more detail on location, what exactly is going on, I'll report it to the department, and we can have the fire marshal's office have a look at it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Community governments have the authority to appoint bylaw officers to manage the activities of dogs under the Dog Act. Through its bylaw officer course, MACA can provide direction to support how to implement Dog Acts in the community. MACA also responds to community government requests as they arise, offering guidance and supports related to enforcement and interpretation of the Act. While MACA remains committed to supporting communities within the existing mandate, the department is not currently planning a broader initiative to build capacity around pet containment...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So the Dog Act is administered by municipal and community affairs. MACA is responsible for overseeing the enforcement and operation aspects to the Act, the focus of which is to set out standards of care, prohibition, and distress, abandonment, and running-at-large dogs in Northwest Territories. The Act does not have the authority to make spaying or neutering pets mandatory. Additionally, responsibilities under this Act would need to be addressed through a legislative update. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yeah, thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm not entirely sure about the timeline on updating the policy or those guidelines. But what I could do is, again, reach out to the department and see what the plans are for them. However, we do follow the -- the communities do have to follow numerous guidelines when it comes to operating a landfill. Part of it is having a water license which goes through Wek'èezhìi Water Board in the Tlicho region, but in the other communities it's Northwest Territories Land and Water Board. Yeah, and the other thing to this is if there's any concerns about any spills or any...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That I wouldn't know offhand. There's a lot of detail behind that question. However, what we can do is reach out and see how the community landfills are established. I know some of them are established on a clay base, not necessarily a liner. So I can reach out -- we can get the department to reach out to the -- they might even know but I don't have that detailed answer here. One of the things that I will say is that a lot of the landfills are -- actually all of the landfills are community-base operated, so they're operated by the community governments so they would be...