Kevin O'Reilly

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I move that this committee recommends that Elections NWT implement and administer an election rebate program as laid out in the report for candidates starting with the 2023 territorial election. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. This arises from a recommendation from the Chief Electoral Officer. After the vote is finished and the vote count starts, this is really about who should be there to witness the counting of the ballots. The Chief Electoral Officer raised a couple of issues in her report and in discussion with us that, sometimes, candidates don't have anybody at a poll when the count is being conducted. It is up to the Chief Electoral Officer or the Returning Officer to go and find a couple of electors to witness it. It puts them in a difficult position. They have to choose somebody, maybe...

Mr. Chair, just very briefly, the committee heard from two expert witnesses. Dr. Essex is from Western University and Dr. Nicole Goodman is at Brock University. They've been watching online voting in Ontario for the most part, and it's been used at the municipal level there for several years. They've also been watching how online voting has been used in other parts of the world, and they actually worked together on a paper, although they don't always agree on everything. It was a very helpful paper, and they've suggested a number of principles that should be adopted in terms of online voting...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. The Chief Electoral Officer and I think even our staff found a few inconsistencies in the legislation itself, some cross-referencing and things like this that should be cleared up. Those are detailed in the report, and I'm not going to drag people through those. That's what this recommendation is about, is some housekeeping clarifications that are required in the act. Thanks, Madam Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. We had this issue raised with us by a member of the public, Mr. Wasylciw, and he said that it may be more convenient if someone's travelling away from their home within the Northwest Territories on polling day, where they could go in and cast their vote in any poll, not just where they necessarily live. Certainly, I know from personal experience, one of the federal, last federal elections, I cast a vote in Winnipeg, I was visiting our daughter, for candidates in the Northwest Territories. It's something that is done at the federal level. We also recognize that this might...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Now, I'll go through a series of motions which are the recommendations from the report itself.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. This is to make sure that family members of a candidate are not eligible to serve as returning officers or additional assistant returning officers to maintain the integrity of the election and so on. That's what these section numbers are really all about, and it comes from a recommendation from the Chief Electoral Officer, so committee thought that this was something they wanted to recommend, as well. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I move that this committee recommends that the Elections and Plebiscites Act be amended to prohibit a candidate's polling agent from being able to assist an elector in casting a vote. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Speaker, my second set of questions are on the Taltson Hydroelectric Expansion Project. My questions are for the Minister of Infrastructure. The Executive's 2030 Energy Strategy and a Climate Change Strategic Framework rely heavily upon greenhouse gas reductions supposedly resulting from a major expansion of the Taltson hydroelectric system. Could the Minister describe the phases of the proposed Taltson hydroelectric expansion set out in the 2030 Energy Strategy, including the following:

Identify the time frames of construction, how each phase of construction will be financed, and to whom...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I move that this committee recommends that the Chief Electoral Officer undertake a review of the requirements to publicly disclose a candidate's residential address and return to the Legislative Assembly within six months with the findings of that review and any potential amendments to the Elections and Plebiscites Act. Thank you, Mr. Chair.