News October 30, 2014

Legislative Assembly Agrees to Extend the Review Period for Bill 12

(YELLOWKNIFE) Thursday, October 30, 2014 – Today the Legislative Assembly adopted a motion introduced by Mr. Michael Nadli, Chair of the Standing Committee on Government Operations, to extend the review period for Bill 12: Northern Employee Benefits Services Pension Plan Act for a further 120 days.

Bill 12, sponsored by the Minister of Finance, sets out the legislative framework for the Northern Employee Benefits Services (NEBS) Pension Plan to continue as a multi-employer, multi-jurisdictional public sector pension plan for employees of approved public sector employers in both the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. The Nunavut Standing Committee on Legislation has been considering Bill 1, which largely mirrors the provisions of Bill 12. Earlier this week, the Nunavut Legislative Assembly adopted a motion to extend the period of time for their Standing Committee to report Bill 1 back to their House by a further 120 days.

“Our Standing Committee on Government Operations held a public hearing on Bill 12, in Yellowknife, on September 25, 2014. During that meeting and in the weeks that followed, Committee received both oral and written submissions expressing a variety of views. Some organizations have called upon both legislatures to withdraw the Bill, while others support the Bill as written. I speak for the Committee in saying that we are in agreement with our colleagues in Nunavut that “neither extreme is necessary or desirable at this stage”,” said Mr. Nadli.

“Given the interest already expressed by our constituents, the unique nature of this bill, and the challenges proposed by its multijurisdictional nature, it will take time to do this job properly. I believe that people in the Northwest Territories would agree that this is the best way to ensure that NEBS gets the clear legislative framework that they need and the balanced one they deserve,” said Mr. Nadli.

For more information, contact: 

Michael Nadli, Chair
Standing Committee on Government Operations 
Legislative Assembly of the NWT 
P: 867-669-2268
Toll-free: 1-800-661-0784
E: michael_nadli@gov.nt.ca