Last Fall, while we were debating changes to the North Island-Coast Development Trust Initiative Act I asked why the Minister ignored requests from the Island Coastal Economic Trust to remove gendered language in their law?
Hon. Brenda Bailey, Minister of Jobs and Innovation stated it was an oversight and accepted an amendment I made to a single instance of gendered language. The Minister invited me to make further amendments but I was unable to draft on the fly.
I am introducing the changes to gendered language requested by the Trust and committed to by the Minister last Fall.
[Transcript]
I move that a bill intituled the North Island – Coast Development Initiative Trust Amendment Act, 2024, of which notice has been given in my name on the order paper, be introduced and read a first time now.Last fall, the Island Coastal Economic Trust requested that gendered language in their act be removed and replaced with neutral language. However, when the minister tabled their amendments in Bill 42, the miscellaneous statutes amendments, to increase the investment cap of the trust, they failed to bring forward these changes in any of the acts for investment trusts in the province.During debate, I drafted an amendment on the fly to change one instance of gendered language, and the amendment passed. The effort was to raise the question why the seemingly innocuous request was not in the amendments that were tabled, and it ended up being an unfortunate oversight.The Minister of Jobs, Economic Development and Innovation indicated a willingness to make the needed amendments, ensuring more neutral language and inclusivity. During the debate, I was encouraged to table amendments correcting other instances. However, I did not have the drafting capacity at the time.The minister committed to making additional corrections to engender greater neutrality during this spring 2024 legislative session. I am tabling this bill now to ensure that there is an opportunity to follow through on that commitment, should the amending legislation not be introduced.This private member’s bill offers an opportunity to continue the work that we started last fall. It follows the request of our friends at the Island Coastal Economic Trust by removing all gendered language from the North Island-Coast Development Initiative Trust Act. The government has been making such changes in other laws, and I hope the minister sees fit to debate this bill so together, we can finish the work we started last fall and ensure the act guiding the ICET is more inclusive.
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