Kevin O'Reilly

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this Assembly recommend that the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act be amended to expand the duties of the Conflict of Interest Commissioner to include oversight of the Members' Conduct Guidelines or Code of Conduct; and further, that the Commissioner be empowered to receive and investigate complaints from a Member or any other person respecting breaches of prescribed conduct and to recommend sanctions or penalties as appropriate to the Speaker; and furthermore, that the newly constituted Commissioner be known as the Ethics Commissioner. Thank you...

There is a potential for a conflict of interest when the mineral industry advisory board provides advice to the Minister generally, and in this specific case of the Work Credit Program, what is the Minister prepared to do to deal with this issue of potential for a conflict of interest and to improve transparency around the recommendations he gets from this board?

Merci, Monsieur le President. My questions are for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment. Can the Minister tell us why there was no consultation with the standing committee on the extension of the Work Credit Program for another two years? Merci, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. On February 28, 2017, the Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures presented its Report on the Review of Member's Conduct Guidelines titled "You Are Standing for Your People." The report contained six recommendations to strengthen the standards of conduct for both candidates and Members of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly and increase Members' accountability to the public.

The committee advises changes to the Elections and Plebiscites Act, changes to the Executive Council and Legislative Assembly Act, a new oath of office, a more enforceable code of conduct...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker, and thanks to the Minister. I am going to give him a few more carrots now. I think we are heading on the right track, but one of the issues that has been on the books for years is the availability of agricultural land. What process is the Minister going to action right now to identify and make available more land for agricultural purposes? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I think there is just a bit of a misunderstanding here. I would urge Members, if they have got the report in front of them, if you can turn to page 9 of the report. You will see at the top of it, and I will just take a moment, Mr. Chair, to read.

What we are proposing here, what the committee proposed is replacing the current Oath of Office. The current Oath of Office is found at the top of page 9, and it is pretty short. I will just read it as follows -- we are not proposing changing the conduct guidelines themselves, although that is the subject of the next recommendation...

I thank the Minister for those aspirational statements, but I guess I'm looking for something measurable. I will give him another chance here. There are no cost estimates for any of the activities identified in the action plan attached to the strategy and, of course, there are no new funds identified in the 2017-18 budget for implementation of the strategy. Can the Minister tell us whether we have to wait another year to find the money and start some of these activities?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would like to move that this Assembly recommend that the Legislative Assembly’s oath of office be revised in schedule B of the Legislative Assembly, an Executive Council Act, as follows:

“I (Member’s name) do swear or affirm that

a) I am fully qualified to hold the office of the Member for the district of, to which I have been elected;

b) I have not knowingly contravened the Elections and Plebiscites Act respecting any matter in relation to my election;

c) I will faithfully, to the best of my ability, perform the duties and responsibilities of my office, and will not...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. It's not wishful thinking for me to have a Minister's Statement. Last Friday, the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment released the first-ever NWT Agricultural Strategy. This in itself is a very good thing and has the potential to help build food security and diversify our economy.

I offer some observations and recommendations having reviewed the document. I had hoped to see a more substantive effort on presenting the history of agriculture and its contribution to the NWT economy. There is nothing I could find about traditional harvesting of berries or medicines, on...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I guess I will start with some acknowledgments of my friend the MLA from Deh Cho. I have known the Member for Deh Cho for more than 25 years, and I have the utmost respect for him. He has been a very valuable Member, and I am happy to work with him in the House committees. I regret any stress that this has caused him and his family and, certainly, that wasn’t the intention of any of our work, but I want to go on the record as saying that.

I do find it necessary to address a few of the issues that were raised by my colleagues. I recognize that everybody knows that this was...