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Legisaltive Assembly Briefs

Same sex by the numbers


nnsl photo
NWT Legislature

Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Mar 06/02) - The vote on a bill to give same sex couples the right to adopt would be a close one if cabinet ministers were allowed to vote against the bill.

As it stands now, with seven cabinet ministers and four Yellowknife MLAs voting in favour of the change, the bill will become law.

But if, as a number of MLAs called for last week, cabinet ministers were permitted to vote freely on the issue, the vote could easily go the other way.

Two cabinet ministers -- Jim Antoine and Vince Steen -- voted against the change when the issue arose during the last assembly. Another cabinet minister, Joe Handley, said he has questions about the change but does not feel strongly about the issue one way or the other.

At a constituency meeting in Dettah just before the budget session began, Handley said he is "personally I'm not for it, but I can't speak against it."

Hay River MLA Paul Delorey was not present during last week's 11-6 vote for the change. He said Monday his personal beliefs compel him to oppose the change.

If a free vote was held, and both Antoine and Steen voted the same way they did in 1997, the bill would be defeated by a vote of 10-8.

Kyoto concerns

The GNWT will leave to the federal government the chore of consulting stakeholders on the costs of imposing greenhouse gas limits.

"We have a greenhouse gas strategy, we have gone through consultations already," said Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development Minister Jim Antoine. "This is our contribution to trying to meet the obligations of the Kyoto protocol."

The GNWT is worried Kyoto greenhouse gas limits may hamper development. Territorial greenhouse gas emissions are scheduled to rise dramatically in the near future, as more diamond mines are developed.

Construction of a Mackenzie Valley pipeline, if it proceeds, would further increase emissions. NWT emissions make up only a small fraction of national greenhouse gas emissions. Antoine said federal, provincial and territorial ministers responsible for the environment are to discuss the cost of implementing Kyoto further at a meeting in May.

By then, he said, federal consultation with stakeholders should be complete.

"It's an area of concern," Antoine said of the impact the limits could have on development.