Bill 33 changes the statutory name of the June 21 public holiday from "National Aboriginal Day" to "National Indigenous Peoples Day" and makes consequential edits across territorial statutes. The change is implemented by amending specific provisions in the Employment Standards Act, the Interpretation Act and the Public Service Act, and by repealing the older National Aboriginal Day Act (SNWT 2001, c.14).
This is primarily a change of official terminology and statutory cross-references: it preserves the June 21 holiday in territorial law while aligning the name used in multiple enactments. For practitioners, the main effects are administrative — updating policies, payroll rules, and legal references — and the symbolic recognition embedded in territorial statute.
At a Glance
What It Does
The bill designates June 21 as "National Indigenous Peoples Day" and swaps that wording into several existing statutes. It removes the older National Aboriginal Day Act by repeal and replaces specific paragraph text in three named Acts.
Who It Affects
Territorial public servants, employers governed by the Northwest Territories Employment Standards Act, territorial government departments responsible for statutory drafting and public communications, and Indigenous organizations for whom the name change has symbolic significance.
Why It Matters
Lawyers, HR and compliance officers must update contracts, employee handbooks, payroll coding and any automated references to the former holiday name. The repeal of the 2001 Act and the targeted amendments prevent inconsistent statutory cross-references but do not add new entitlements.
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What This Bill Actually Does
Bill 33 takes an existing territorial public holiday observed on June 21 and changes the official name used in statute from "National Aboriginal Day" to "National Indigenous Peoples Day." The single-sentence substantive provision declares June 21 to be the new-named public holiday and anchors the change in the territorial statute book.
To make the renaming effective across the law, the bill amends three specific statutes by swapping the old phrase for the new one: it replaces the entry in the Employment Standards Act that lists statutory holidays, updates the Interpretation Act's reference so that all interpretive rules point to the new name, and revises the Public Service Act's list of recognized holidays for territorial employees. Those edits are textual substitutions intended to preserve existing legal effects while changing terminology.Finally, the bill repeals the separate National Aboriginal Day Act (SNWT 2001, c.14).
Repeal here removes the older standalone enactment that previously designated the holiday, consolidating the holiday's legal footing into the renamed provision and the amended statutes. The bill does not introduce new duties, benefits, or procedural rules beyond the renaming and consequential edits, so its practical impact lies chiefly in legal housekeeping and symbolic recognition.
The Five Things You Need to Know
Section 1 designates June 21 of each year as "National Indigenous Peoples Day" and declares it a public holiday.
Section 2 repeals and replaces paragraph 22(1)(d) of the Employment Standards Act to list the holiday under the new name.
Section 3 amends paragraph 21(a) of the Interpretation Act by substituting the new holiday name for the old.
Section 4 repeals and replaces paragraph 35(1)(e) of the Public Service Act to reflect the renamed holiday for territorial employees.
Section 5 repeals the National Aboriginal Day Act, SNWT 2001, c.14.
Section-by-Section Breakdown
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Create and name the holiday
This clause is the operative naming provision: it expressly declares that June 21 will be known as "National Indigenous Peoples Day" and that it shall be observed as a public holiday. Practically, that single sentence sets the label that other statutes and government practices will use going forward; it does not redefine the date, move the observance, or create a separate entitlement beyond the status of a public holiday.
Amend Employment Standards Act listing
Section 2 performs a targeted textual substitution in paragraph 22(1)(d) of the Employment Standards Act so that the statutory list of holidays continues to include June 21, now under the new name. For payroll and labour-law compliance this preserves whatever holiday rules currently apply (overtime, holiday pay, etc.) while changing the statutory label employers must use in policies and documentation.
Update Interpretation Act cross-reference
By replacing the phrase in paragraph 21(a) of the Interpretation Act, the bill ensures that statutes and interpretive rules that rely on the Interpretation Act will reference the new holiday name. This is a preventive edit: it reduces the chance of inconsistent references across the statute book and preserves interpretive continuity after the renaming.
Update Public Service Act holiday list
This amendment changes paragraph 35(1)(e) of the Public Service Act so territorial government employment rules and internal HR instruments use the new name for the June 21 observance. The change affects public service scheduling, internal leave policies, and any collective agreement language that cross-references the statute's holiday list.
Repeal the older National Aboriginal Day Act
Repealing the SNWT 2001, c.14 Act removes the separate statutory instrument that previously established the holiday. The repeal consolidates the holiday's legal footing into the amended statutes; it also means any unique provisions that had been located only in the 2001 Act would cease to exist unless reproduced elsewhere, so the repeal is effectively a housekeeping move that finalizes the rename.
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Explore this topic in Codify Search →Who Benefits and Who Bears the Cost
Every bill creates winners and losers. Here's who stands to gain and who bears the cost.
Who Benefits
- Indigenous peoples of the Northwest Territories — the change places a contemporary, preferred term into territorial law and formally acknowledges Indigenous cultures and contributions in statute.
- Human resources and legal teams in territorial departments — consolidating the holiday name and repealing the older Act reduces cross-referencing ambiguity and simplifies statutory language updates.
- Employers and payroll providers — the bill preserves the statutory holiday while clarifying the label they must use in payroll systems and employment documentation.
Who Bears the Cost
- Private-sector employers and payroll administrators — they must update contracts, payroll codes, employee handbooks and automated systems to reflect the new statutory name, incurring administrative time and potential one-time costs.
- Territorial government agencies responsible for legislative drafting and communications — they must revise statutes, internal policies, public guidance and bilingual materials to align with the new terminology.
- Legal counsel and compliance officers — they must review and, where necessary, amend regulatory references, procurement documents and collective bargaining language to ensure consistency with the renamed holiday.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
The central dilemma is symbolic recognition versus substantive change: the bill updates formal language to reflect contemporary terminology and honours Indigenous cultures in name, but it deliberately stops short of attaching new rights, benefits, or procedural measures to that recognition — leaving stakeholders to weigh the value of the symbolic rename against the real administrative and legal work required to implement it.
The bill is narrowly focused on terminology; it renames and reconciles statutory cross-references but does not add or remove substantive rights tied to the June 21 observance. That narrowness creates implementation questions: practitioners will need to verify that no material provision lived only in the repealed 2001 Act before it disappears, and to ensure payroll and collective agreement language continue to operate as before under the new name.
The repeal reduces duplication but raises the risk that stray references to the old Act in subordinate instruments might be overlooked.
Another practical tension concerns administrative burden versus symbolic value. The legislative edits are simple on paper, but every workplace policy, HR system, and public-facing communication that referenced the old name requires checking and possible revision.
The bill does not provide funding or transition guidance for that work, nor does it set out a timeline for administrative updates, so implementation will be handled through routine departmental processes — a patchwork approach that could leave inconsistent naming in the short term.
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