Bob Bromley

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures has presented its Report on the Review of the Auxiliary Report of the Chief Electoral Officer on Issues Arising from the 2011 General Election.

The report contains 13 recommendations which, taken together, will help clarify, modernize and strengthen the NWT’s electoral system. These are important incremental changes to ensure the continued integrity and fairness of our elections.

The committee advises that these changes should be made in advance of the next election.

The committee thanks the Chief Electoral Officer for his...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to table a letter from the Yellowknives Dene First Nation, the City of Yellowknife and Alternatives North addressed to the Honourable Michael Miltenberger, Honourable Bernard Valcourt, Honourable Gail Shea and Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, entitled “Responsible Ministers Decision on the Report of Environmental Assessment of Giant Mine Remediation Project, EA0809-001.” Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have a budget session in a few months’ time, so there is plenty of opportunity for this Minister. Clearly, there are serious communication issues with the Department of Education, Culture and Employment. We haven’t seen even an evaluation of the pilot project in Fort Providence and what the impacts of that were on the students, on the families, on the Aboriginal Head Start program. Basic stuff, and everything that comes out of the department communication is confusing and lacking in facts, just like the Minister’s responses.

What will the Minister do to not only...

I have before me a finance sheet of agreed upon figures of the Yellowknife Catholic School Board signed off by the Minister’s finance director and the senior finance officer for YCS – and that will be tabled later today – that clearly shows the ECE/YCS agreed upon numbers for board funding projections. There are undeniable deficits that for conservative enrolment predictions accumulate to $1.67 million by year four all in. The impacts of this fall on the backs of our students, and this is true for many school boards.

Why is the Minister not owning up to these budget reductions so we have can a...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would also like to recognize all the students in the House today. It adds a certain energy to the room. I would also like to recognize that there are undoubtedly students from Weledeh, that’s the Old Town and Niven Lake and Ndilo and Detah. I certainly recognize Rae Panayi, a neighbour from down there in Peace River Flats. Welcome to the House. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thanks for that question. It’s not unusual. In fact, it’s probably more common than not that candidates have some expenses that they incur before there is an official representative, so that the financial aspects remain at arm’s length. Perhaps ordering signs for a remote community or something to ensure that they are there in time, whatever it might be. Usually they are fairly modest. This is to legitimize those expenditures and make it clear that those are legitimate for the actual candidate to be doing spending early on, perhaps even before everything has been...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. One of my fondest memories from early childhood was visiting O’Callahan’s amazing and magical cabbage patch near where the Explorer Hotel now stands.

In those days if you wanted fresh vegetables here or, indeed, anywhere in the NWT, you usually grew them yourself. Back then, home and market gardens throughout the Territories supplied people with enough vegetables to meet their needs for a healthy diet. After losing that tradition, the Growing Forward II Program, a joint funding program between Canada and the GNWT, was meant to support a local produce revival...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, this, as Ms. Bisaro identified, clarifies the terminology under election advertising and tries to level the playing field. There are some forms of advertising that are active and can be deactivated, others that are print form that can’t, and so it clarifies under election advertising which of those categories it falls into.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to table the Council of Canadian Academies Executive Summary of the report “Environmental Impacts of Shale Gas Extraction in Canada” issued last month. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you, Mr. Hawkins.

Members of the Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures believe that taken together, the recommendations stemming from this review will help clarify, modernize and strengthen the NWT’s electoral system. It is a strong system, founded on fairness, transparency and accountability. We thank the Chief Electoral Officer for his diligence, and all those who provided public input or attended the committee’s hearings.