First attempt derided as publicity stunt

The Government of Nuna­vut will table several new draft laws during this session of the legislature, which began on Thursday, March 22 and is expected to continue for the next eight to 10 days.

Among the new pieces of legislation will be a new Energy Efficiency Act, says Ed Picco, who serves as government house leader as well as energy minister.

This will be Picco's second attempt to pass an energy efficiency bill. In February 2008 he let an earlier incarnation of the law die on the order paper, after it was derided by fellow MLAs as little more than a "good publicity stunt."

The old law included provisions for a ban on the sale of most incandescent bulbs, but MLAs argued this was redundant because the federal government plans to introduce a similar bulb ban by 2012.

Picco promises that the new version of the law includes broader rules on the sale of energy-efficient appliances. "I've done all that," he said.

Other legislation is to be introduced within a bundle of supplementary appropriations, to allow the government to spend more money than it has budgeted.

But it doesn't appear likely that any of the most contentious legislation before the House – Nunavut's package of new language laws, and the new Education Act – will be dealt with until the final sitting of the legislature, to be held sometime this autumn, before territorial elections in October.