Legislative reports.

Northwest Territories

Discussion on the creation of two new territories and amendments to the proposed Family Law Bills dominated the final days of the Fourth Session of the Thirteenth Legislative Assembly when it reconvened in October.

In the early days of the sitting, John Todd, Chairman of the Division Planning Committee, tabled "Creation of Two New Territories: Transition Action Plan". The draft plan identifies a number of priority issues that need to be addressed to ensure a smooth, orderly transition for the creation of the new Nunavut territory and the Western Territory.

The plan also estimated that $136 million in additional funding is required to cover transitional and incremental costs associated with the creation of the two new territories in 1999.

Mr. Todd said the plan would be many things to many people, including advice for Jack Anawak, the Interim Commissioner of Nunavut, and Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated (the Inuit land claim organization), a guide to action for the Government of the Northwest Territories, and a comprehensive costing for the Federal Government.

In keeping with the move ahead to the division process, Premier Don Morin announced the appointment of Goo Arlooktoo as Minister Responsible for Nunavut Transition Planning and Charles Dent as Minister Responsible for Western Transition Planning. Both ministers will assist Mr. Todd, the lead Minister in the Division process.

Shortly after his appointment, Mr. Dent tabled, on behalf of the Western Caucus of the Legislative Assembly, a document titled "An Action Plan for Transition to a New Western Territory." The plan outlines a number of short, medium and long-term initiatives that are needed to ensure a smooth transition to a new Western Territory.

Members also agreed to recommend a 17-Member Assembly for the first Nunavut Legislative Assembly, following up on a similar recommendation from the Nunavut Electoral Boundaries Commission. The recommendation has been forwarded to Jane Stewart, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development.

Members also made a number of changes to family law legislation with three bills -- Family Law Act, Children's Law Act, and Child and Family Services Act -- receiving Royal Assent. The three bills update the Northwest Territories legislation in this area and eliminate inconsistencies in past legislation. A fourth Bill, The Adoption Act, died on the order paper and a new, redrafted bill is expected to be introduced when the Fifth Session reconvenes in January.

The Commissioner of the NWT, Helen Maksagak, officially opened the Fifth Session of the 13th Legislative Assembly on October 21, 1997. During the abbreviated session, Members spent two days reviewing the Government's progress and the performances of the Premier and Cabinet Ministers in the first two years of its mandate, including a marathon 17-hour sitting on the final day of the review.

A number of bills, including the Power Corporation Act and An Act to Amend the Public Utilities Act, were also introduced and referred to the Standing Committees to begin the review process. The Power Corporation and Public Utilities bills seek to amend current legislation to allow for the NWT Power Corporation to be jointly owned by the Nunavut and Western Territory governments on and after April 1, 1999.

The House adjourned until December 2 when a special sitting, to discuss National Unity was scheduled.

Legislation

Numerous bills also received assent in the final days of the Fourth Session. In addition to the three Family Law Bills, other legislation that received passage included:

* An Act to Amend the Workers' Compensation Act which increases the Yearly Maximum Insurable Remuneration paid to injured workers to $52,000 from $49,000.

* An Act to Amend the Elections Act which makes a number of amendments to the legislation to meet the election requirements of the new Nunavut territory and the new Western Territory. The changes made permit voting in the office of the returning officer, provide for mail-in voting, clarify the circumstances under which proxy votes may be used, and other technical amendments. These changes were made in response to issues identified by the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada in his report to the Assembly following the 1995 General Election.

* Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 2, 1997-98 which allows the government to make supplementary appropriations of over $16 million for the fiscal year ending March 31, 1998.

Committees

During the fall months committee members reviewed the 1998-99 departmental business plans for the government. Department officials also reported to Committees on their midyear activity status reports for the current fiscal year.

In September, members of the Social Programs Committee finalized their report to the House on the proposed Family Law Bills. The report was prepared following an extensive round of public hearings held in northern communities in the spring and summer months.

Ronna Bremer

Public Relations Officer

ASSEMBLEE NATIONALE

QUEBEC

On 25 August 1997, Premier Lucien Bouchard proceeded to reorganize his Cabinet and to increase to 23 the number of Ministers. The sole addition to Cabinet is JeanPierre Jolivet, who, since January 29, 1996, had been Chief Government Whip. He is now Minister for Electoral and Parliamentary Reform and Government House Leader and replaces Pierre Belanger. Andre Boulerice will assist him as Deputy Government House Leader.

Mr. Bouchard also appointed Jocelyne Caron, former Deputy Government House Leader, as Chief Government Whip. She will be assisted by current Deputy Government Whips Solange Charest and Diane Barbeau.

After a 33-day campaign, byelections were held last October 6 in four Quebec ridings. In Bourassa and Kamouraska-Temiscouata, byelections were called following the resignations of two Members who ran for office in the last federal elections. The candidates returned were Michele Lamquin-Ethier and Claude Bechard, both from the Liberal Party. Yvon Charbonneau, the former Member for Bourassa, now sits in the House of Commons as Member for Anjou-Riviere-des-Prairies. In the riding of Duplessis, Parti Quebecois candidate Normand Duguay replaces Denis Perron, who passed away last April. Finally, Liberal Member Denis Chalifoux was elected in Bertrand, thus replacing Robert Therien, whose election in that riding on 12 September 1994 was recently annulled following a decision of the Court of Appeal. The political parties at the National Assembly stand as follows: Parti Quebecois, 75; Quebec Liberal Party, 47; Action democratique du Quebec Party, 1; Independent Members, 2; for a total of 125 Members.

A Parliamentary Conference of the Americas was held in Quebec from September 18 to 22, 1997. The Quebec National Assembly was host to some 800 participants, over 400 of whom were delegates of unitary, federated and federal State Parliaments representing 28 of the 35 countries of the hemisphere. An additional 400 observers from various intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations, research institutes and business and union associations were also present.

This event, which was an initiative of the Speaker of the National Assembly, obtained the support of the Parliament of Canada and of the major parliamentary organizations of the Americas. The keynote address was delivered by Oscar Arias Sanchez, recipient of the 1987 Nobel Peace Prize. The various workshops dealt with democracy, human rights, free trade and employment, education and job training, social security and health policies, cultures, languages and communications, as well as sustainable development. These workshops enabled participants to discuss the impact of the process of continental economic integration and gave parliamentarians an opportunity to reflect upon the exercise of their representative, legislative and interparliamentary duties within this context.

Upon the conclusion of the Conference, a declaration containing a decision to establish a follow-up committee was carried by the parliamentarians of the Americas. The purpose of this committee is to examine the framework for pursuing the dialogue leading to a structure which would regroup representatives of the Parliaments and interparliamentary organizations of the Americas. The chairmanship of this Committee was conferred on Jean-Pierre Charbonneau, Speaker of the Quebec National Assembly, who will convene its first meeting in 1998.

Upon the resumption of proceedings on October 21, 1997, the National Assembly extended the proposed amendments to the Standing Orders that it had adopted last spring until December 21, 1997. A summary of these amendments can be found in Volume 20, no. 2 (summer issue) of the Canadian Parliamentary Review. It should be noted that the hours of meeting are the same for each day that the Assembly sits: Tuesday to Thursday from 10.00 o'clock a.m. to 6.00 o'clock p.m., the proceedings being suspended from 12.00 o'clock noon until 2.00 o'clock p.m., at which time Routine Proceedings are taken. The provisional amendments also modify the extended hours of proceedings -- which began on November 25, 1997 -- as well as the parliamentary committees schedule.

The proposed amendments do not change the timetable with respect to debates during Business Standing in the Name of Members in Opposition, which are held on Wednesday mornings from 10.00 o'clock a.m. to 12.00 o'clock p.m. This has the advantage of establishing a fixed amount of time for the said debates. The Assembly also carried a new amendment to Standing Order 97, which is replaced by Standing Orders 97, 97.1 and 97.2.

Under these new...