The NWT’s politicians will begin considering the draft of a Missing Persons Act on Friday, when Premier RJ Simpson – in his role as justice minister – introduces the bill.
A Missing Persons Act has been keenly awaited, partly because RCMP suggested the absence of such legislation had hampered their ability to search for Frank Gruben, who was last seen in Fort Smith in May 2023 and has yet to be found.
Speaking later that same month, a police spokesperson said the lack of a Missing Persons Act meant officers could not compel the handing-over of some relevant records when searching for someone, like those held by banks or phone companies.
While a senior RCMP official later walked back the suggestion that legislation was an issue, the earlier statement has stuck. NWT residents and Frank’s friends and relatives have urged the territorial government to literally get its act together.
The territory had already been developing missing persons legislation at the time of Frank’s disappearance, but the work was dragging on.
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The NWT government originally committed to creating that legislation in response to the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls’ final report.
At the time, the territory said there were 67 open files in the NWT involving 79 missing people. The GNWT’s action plan responding to the national inquiry said a Missing Persons Act would “facilitate the collection of necessary and timely information by police when conducting a missing persons investigation.”
In October 2022, Simpson – then the justice minister in Caroline Cochrane’s government – said a bill to create an act would be “hopefully introduced” in February or March 2023.
But by May 2023, the Department of Justice told Cabin Radio work to draft the bill was still taking place.
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“A number of questions arose which required further engagement with the Department of Health and Social Services and the RCMP,” the department stated at the time, with Simpson telling fellow MLAs: “It’s taking longer than we’d hoped.”
The contents of the bill that would create a Missing Persons Act are not yet available.
When Simpson introduces the bill for its first reading on Friday, he’ll begin the standard process by which legislation in the NWT is considered. (His announcement on Wednesday that the bill was coming received an ovation from other MLAs.)
The bill will be posted on the Legislative Assembly’s website, then it’ll have its second reading, at which point MLAs can debate it before it’s sent to a committee of regular MLAs for review. That review stage normally includes a public session combing through the bill where the minister responsible, Simpson, is questioned about it. The committee can recommend amendments and then decides if the bill is ready for consideration or not.
If the committee is happy and the bill comes through a subsequent further review in the House, it’ll have its third reading. The NWT’s commissioner then grants assent to it and it becomes law.
That process takes months and months, but Friday will at last mark the start of the bill’s formal journey.
