Bill No. 169 - Expropriation Act. - Second Reading

CLAUDIA CHENDER « » : Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise and say a few short words about the amendments to the Expropriation Act brought in today.

We appreciate that the amendments were brought in with the intention of creating clarity, and I think we in the NDP caucus recognize that it's the government's job to create that clarity insofar as legislation goes. I think in general my colleague's points are well taken. This does impact private landowners, and I think that we need to be cautious about how we go forward.

In general, I would say whenever we move the hearing of a matter from a tribunal to a higher court, there are access-to-justice issues that can immediately be engaged. It is harder to access those courts as those courts are busier, but I won't opine on whether that's the right decision or not. I think our caucus is of the view that we really look forward to hearing from landowners and, hopefully, from some legal experts at Law Amendments, and I look forward to that process going forward.