Robert Bouchard

Mr. Speaker, your committee has been considering Tabled Document 4-17(5), Northwest Territories Electoral Boundaries Commission 2013 Final Report, and would like to report progress with one motion being adopted. I move that the report of Committee of the Whole be concurred with. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mrs. Groenewegen.

Question has been called. The motion is deferred.

---Carried

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Dolynny.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Next on the list is R.C. McLeod.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I, too, would like to thank the commission for their hard work and all the effort that they’ve made in looking at the three options that we gave them: 18, 19 and 21. Obviously, the debate includes the court action requiring it to be within 25 percent over or under. But we also have to look at the territory, the size of the territory, the population of the territory and, I believe, the growth of our territory. We’re seeing a decline in the population.

I guess one of the questions or one of the comments is effective representation. We look at these ridings and MLAs have...

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Miltenberger.

Mr. Dolynny, please speak to the motion. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Glad that I can agree with Mr. Beaulieu’s point of view in that we are elected officials to make these decisions. I will not be supporting this motion, as well, on the fact that I think there are a bunch of intricacies of these types of decisions and I don’t think that’s in the best interests of the Northwest Territories to be bound by a commission. I think the commissions can give us recommendations, give us direction on what they see, what they’ve heard and seen, but we, as elected officials, have to make the end decision.

The other thing is that making this binding...